The Ladies Man
by Emziie
Summary: TyKa AU. Tyson is a junior in highschool, and he really wants to get laid. Can you blame him? He's also extremely jealous of the very popular, and always getting laid, Kai Hiwatari. Will this loser ever get some action? From anyone?
1. Chapter 1

The Ladies Man- Chapter One

A/N: Here it is! I dunno if this plot has been used before (I didn't read it anywhere, and if it has, I was unaware) so I dunno if it's super cliché. I love this story though, I spent a lot of time on it and it's my baby. It's my first AU, so be kind. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade and I definitely don't make any money off of writing this fiction.

* * *

"Tyson, you're an idiot." Hilary said with a sigh as one of her best friends, Tyson Kinomiya, was walking back towards her and Max.

"Just hit him when he's down, Hil." Tyson groaned, rubbing his violently red cheek.

"Aw man, which line did you use this time?" Max Mizuhara asked lightheartedly. He had an arm slung around his girlfriend's shoulders, the infamously smart and bitchy Hilary Tatibana.

"The one that I never thought could fail! I just walked up to her, gave her the sexy eyes, and said, "Math is my best subject, cause I'm pretty sure U + I = 69". And then she slapped me! I can't even believe it!" Tyson looked appalled as he talked animatedly with his hands. Max rolled his eyes.

"Tyson, you're an idiot." Max parroted what his girlfriend had just stated.

"I'm not an idiot!" Tyson shrieked at his best friends. "I just wanna get laid!" He added bluntly. Max burst out laughing, Hilary gave him a solid glare.

"You should really like girls for other reasons than that, Tyson…" Max said obediently.

"Shut up, Max. You've had a girlfriend for a _year_ and you _still _haven't gotten laid. All you've done is made out… _For a year_! I, Tyson Kinomiya, am looking for the full meal deal, if you know what I'm saying." Tyson finished, grinning at his friends.

"Tyson!" Max said, aghast.

"Max! You tell Tyson what we do? That's private, you imbecile!" Hilary asked accusingly, glaring at her boyfriend.

"He's my best friend, sweetie… I won't do it again?" Max said, giving the spunky brunette a charming smile. It usually got him off the hook. "Kisses?" Max asked in his sweetest voice possible.

"You've gotten plenty of kisses in the last year to hold you off for the rest of this week." Hilary stated, indirectly implying Max would be getting _nothing_ from her. She walked off towards her next class as the 2 minute bell sounded, disappearing into the crowd quickly.

"Thanks, _man._" Max glared at his friend. "At least I have to girlfriend to make out with. _Daily_. Whenever I want to." Max said, feeling somewhat cocky and like he wanted to piss his friend off.

"Yeah, I bet that case of blue balls you have _whenever you want_ is just so romantic." Tyson teased, the two boys heading towards the locker room, their next class was gym.

"Tyson! You're such an asshole, dude!" Max groaned. The two friends walked to their lockers and changed quickly, not wanting to be caught dead lingering in the boys' locker room.

"Dude, look, it's that chick you were just hitting on." Max whispered to Tyson as they entered, pointing towards the busty redhead who was currently shamelessly flirting with some tall guy that was definitely not Tyson.

"What the hell, man!" Tyson huffed, glaring heatedly at the girl. "Who's that douche?" Tyson asked Max, looking sharply to his friend.

"Him? Oh, that's Kai Hiwatari. He's a senior this year, known for having any girl he wants anytime he wants." Max said in a somewhat disgusted voice. "Damn upper classmen." Max sighed. He and Tyson were both juniors this year, each still at the young age of 16.

"Gosh. He looks so cocky over there with her. He's not so hot." Tyson said before even really looking over the other student.

When Tyson decided to actually look over the older boy though, he realized just how hot he was. Kai Hiwatari was tall, but not so tall he appeared lanky, just tall enough to intimidate anyone who bothered to look at him wrong. His arms and legs, which his gym clothes showed off, were clearly toned and his creamy, lightly colored skin was utterly flawless. The teen had 2 toned hair that was just barley tamed, eloquently disheveled, as it were.

When the perfection that was Kai Hiwatari turned to look at Tyson though, he suddenly had the blue-haired teen feeling very, extremely, _completely_ inadequate. If that redhead girl got _this_ guys attention, Tyson must not have stood a chance. Tyson felt his heart drop as he met eyes with the cocky older boys, the spectacularly burgundy eyes shone with an amused glance, before turning back towards the petite girl he currently had his hands on.

Tyson knew exactly what Kai Hiwatari was saying when the taller boy leaned down to kiss that redhead without any thought. He also knew what he was saying as he broke the kiss, pushed the girl away rudely, and walked away from her. Tyson couldn't help but chuckle as the girl's expression changed rapidly from dazed and happy to utterly _confused and hurt._.

"He's _awesome_." Tyson spoke quietly, once the amusement wore off, his voice serious.

"What? Tyson! He just kissed that poor girl and then left her. Look at her! She's crying!" Max was horrified as Tyson looked towards the older boy, who was now standing with a group of boys his own age with his arms crossed tightly. Tyson smiled happily.

"Yeah. I bet he gets laid _all the time_! I wanna get laid all the time, too! I think I could be friends with that dude!" Tyson said, almost jumping up and down.

"Tyson, stop that bouncing." Max put both hands on his friends shoulder and looked at him squarely. "You don't want to be like him. He uses girls. He makes them cry." Max tried to convince his friend, but was failing miserably.

"So? I don't care! I wonder if he could teach me…" Tyson contemplated, looking away from Max's baby blue eyes in thought. Max had enough of that, so he effectively slapped his friend across his already abused cheek.

"What the fuck, Maxie?" Tyson asked, suddenly snapped out of his 'want-to-get-laid' trance.

"You don't want to be like that guy." Max said, releasing his friend, turning around, and crossing his arms with a long sigh.

"He is the best though, and if I wanna be the best, I gotta learn from the best…" Tyson mumbled, staring at his friends back. Max spun around dramatically.

"Tyson!"

"I won't, Maxie! Don't worry so much, you'll get an ulcer." Tyson held up his hands innocently, trying to stop the angry blonde.

"Good. He's dangerous, Ty; he hangs with a shady crowd. You don't need that. You need to get running before ole' Mr. Butcher over there has your ass." Max said, noticing that the entire class had started their warm-up jog already.

"Ahh! Right!" Tyson exclaimed him and Max taking off simultaneously towards the group.

* * *

"Bye Maxie! Bye Hil!" Tyson waved as his friends left in a different direction after the school day had ended. Tyson watched them leave, and once they were out of sight, turned around and looked frantically for an attractive, tall senior by the name Hiwatari.

Tyson's blue eyes scanned the crowd once, twice, three times, but saw nothing. He sighed, giving up, and headed in the direction of his families dojo. He couldn't spend too much time after school anyways, his gramps was exceedingly strict about his kendo training and were he even a minute late, he'd be doing drills until dinner. And then more drills for dessert.

Knowing this fact, however, did not stop Tyson from approaching Kai once he saw him around the corner from the school. Kai was doing what any high-school badass did and was leaning against the chain-link fence, looking sexy, while smoking a cigarette. He watched the passer-by's with little interest, giving a chin-up to any attractive girl who caught his eye. This boy never had to worry about them not looking at him.

"Hey, you're Kai Hiwatari, right?" Tyson asked the taller boy with enthusiasm. He stood next to the senior and looked at him with a small grin.

"Does it matter, kid?" Kai growled lowly, giving the younger a quick glance and taking another slow drag from his cigarette. Tyson was lost for words, momentarily.

"Well, kind of. And I'm not a kid, despite my youthful appearance; I'm really a junior, if you were wondering." Tyson answered, his childlike determination not letting his spirits be affected by the less than receptive older student.

"Wasn't." Kai said and lugged himself away from the fence and began walking away in the opposite direction Tyson needed to go. He followed anyways, deciding he wasn't done with the older student.

"Oh, I see. Well, Kai, I think we should be friends!" Tyson said when he was a few feet behind the older teen. Kai stopped abruptly, Tyson stopped as well, though he lagged and had to turn around to face his target.

"I don't have _friends_. And if I were to bother, they would not be little incompetent runts like you. Now get out of here before I feel the need to kick your punk ass." Kai finished, his voice seething.

Tyson was not easily discouraged. This was becoming glaringly obvious.

"Oh now, Kai! You wouldn't kick my ass! I think we'd be great friends! Give it a try, eh?" Tyson asked, smiling warmly. Kai gave him a steady glare, though was more than a little confused as to why this junior was so persistent. Usually threats were plenty.

"Get out of my face." Kai hissed, walking past Tyson.

"I'll see you tomorrow, buddy!" Tyson said and waved, though Kai didn't acknowledge him.

Tyson grinned to himself. This would work. Oh yes, it would.

* * *

The next day at school, Tyson arrived early, as usual, so he could hang out with Hilary and Max for a few minutes before class began. Tyson and Max had virtually the same schedule, as with most average juniors, but Hilary was often away from the two in the advanced college-prep classes with all the seniors. That was probably why Max liked to spend every waking moment with her outside of class.

"Morning, lovebirds." Tyson greeted, jogging up to the two who were sitting at their regular cafeteria table. Hilary had a cup of some hot morning beverage in one hand and was reading a book with the other. They both said good morning to Tyson.

"Hey Ty, did you finish the physics homework? It was so hard… I had to have Hilary here practically spell it out for me in like kindergartener language, it was insane and like… Hey, Ty? Earth to TYSON!" Max rambled, noticing Tyson staring off towards the back of the large student center.

"Wha-what?" Tyson shook his head a few times, looking at his friend.

"What's the dealio, brolio?" Max asked kindly. "You weren't paying any attention there dude, what you looking at?" By the time Max finished his sentence however, Tyson was again ignoring him. The blonde huffed, thoroughly annoyed. He turned around in the direction Tyson was staring at.

Of course, Tyson was staring at none other than Kai Hiwatari, who was currently whispering _something_ into the ear of a random cheerleader, making her giggle and squirm under his arm. Max's usual bubbly demeanor vanished as his eyes narrowed at his best friend.

"What's the matter, Maximum?" Hilary asked, glancing up from her book curiously, feeling her boyfriend tense up suddenly against her side.

"Tyson, he's gotten so interested in that Kai Hiwatari guy." Max replied, softening when he looked at Hilary.

"That scumbag Hiwatari?" Hilary asked bitterly, then added, "Gross, why bother? He's the biggest jerk in school." She shook her head.

"I know, right? I told Tyson he's no good…" Max sighed.

Tyson, however, didn't hear a word. He was infatuated and jealous as he watched the older boy touch the girl in places he could barley dream of touching a female. He had her lounging on his lap, one hand placed dangerously high on her bare thigh, the other wrapped around her waist snuggly. The hand on her thigh moved occasionally, stroking the skin delicately.

Tyson was drooling. He wished he could do that with a girl! Hell, he could barley get a hug from one.

Oh, how he wanted to be like Kai. How he wanted to have random girls sit on his lap.

Actually, that could end badly if that were to happen now. And by badly, it was most likely along the lines of Tyson having a panic attack.

Where were the adults at this school? That did _not_ look like PG material anymore, as Kai had moved in for the kiss. The older boy kissed her expertly, and Tyson noticed that hand on her leg creeping up and up and up and…

"TYSON! You're an _idiot_!" Hilary screeched in his face. The bluenette was taken aback as he stared at the fiery brunette blankly. "It's rude to stare, you oaf." She said, flicking him on the forehead.

"Ow! Hilary!" Tyson whined rubbing his abused face. "I just can't win!" He groaned, slumping down in his seat at the table.

The bell rang before any more was said between the friends. They said their goodbyes, and Tyson glanced back once more to where Kai and the girl were.

Only, now it was just Kai. The upperclassman was leaning back against the table, his fingers laced on top of his head. The older boy made eye contact with Tyson, causing the younger to freeze mid step. Kai raised an eyebrow, and snorted. Then, as Tyson cocked his head slightly, the older gave him an extremely smug smirk, looked away, and began walking. Tyson came to the conclusion that that entire little display was all to show Tyson what he could do.

Tyson was in awe once again.

* * *

End Chapter One

A/N: Reviews motive me… They really do. I'm about half way done with chapter two, and trust me, it gets better. There is a reason this story is rated 'M' though, mostly for mentions of drugs, alcohol, and lime-like scenes. So, ya know. I mean really, critters, it's about _getting laid. _Now review, friends!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

* * *

The rest of the day went without incident, minus Max and Hilary griping at poor Tyson about not admiring Kai because he was no good. Hilary, being as opinionated and headstrong as ever, was _adamant_ that Tyson not get involved with the older teen.

Tyson, of course, took it all with a grain of salt.

The blue-haired junior was, after all, a 16 year old boy who couldn't get a girl to look twice at him. Tyson was conviced that it wasn't a lack of attractiveness; it was that all girls are just stupid. Hot, sexy, but… generally, _stupid_.

This was all that was on Tyson's mind as the last bell of the day rang, dismissing all of the high schoolers. The three friends, Max, Hilary, and Tyson walked together out to the front of the school.

"I'll see you guys later!" Tyson waved, stepping away from his friends.

"Ty, wait up!" Max said suddenly. Tyson turned around, looking expectantly as his friend, his head cocked minutely to the left. "Me and Hil are going to see that scary stalker movie tonight… What's it called, Hil?" Max looked to his girlfriend.

"He's Watching You." Hilary informed the blonde, looking at him dully.

"Right! And we wanted to know if you'd come with? It's a Friday night, after all!" Max grinned, giving his buddy a thumbs up. Tyson just sighed and looked at his shoes.

"Nah man, you go for it. I've got… plans." Tyson told his friend ominously.

"Plans?" Max raised a suspicious eyebrow.

Tyson cleared his throat, "Yep. So see ya, Maxie! I'll call you tomorrow. We can go to the arcade or something." Tyson said quickly, leaving before the other could respond.

As Tyson rounded the corner, the anticipation of possibly seeing Kai was beginning to build in his stomach. He was just _giddy_ at the thought. As to not disappoint, Kai Hiwatari was in the exact same spot as the day before, still taking long and lazy drags of his cigarette and watching the crowd go by with dangerous eyes.

Ooh, Tyson liked him!

"Kai! Hey, Kai!" Tyson jogged up to the boy and waved, smiling gently.

Kai sighed dramatically, smoke clearing from his mouth and nose.

"What's up, man?" Tyson asked playfully, bubbling with energy.

"What do you want from me?" Kai asked directly, looking the younger boy in the eye, for once, up close. Tyson felt his throat constrict looking into the older boys blood-colored eyes. They were striking. In fact, everything about Kai was striking, including the blue shark fins on his cheeks. Tyson didn't know what to say suddenly, he felt paralyzed by the other's glance.

"Uh… Well… You see… I…" Tyson started, his expression blank, reflecting his mind.

Kai broke his eye contact, looking in the opposite direction. He made a 'tch' noise and shook his head. "Look, kid, I'm not going to babysit your ass." Kai said. Tyson, as if woken from his trance, grinned again.

"Look, I just want to be your friend! You're super cool and all the girls like you." Tyson said, his voice becoming a little quieter at the end of his statement. The senior looked back at Tyson briefly, his gaze softening an almost immeasurably small amount.

"You like me cause the girls do?" Kai asked. Tyson, who didn't even realize he'd been staring at the ground insecurely, snapped his attention back onto his new acquaintance.

"Well… I'm sure there is more to you, ya know, but I… I want to be like you, dude!" Tyson finished, giving Kai a thumbs up and a simple grin.

"Kid, look, you don't want to be like me." Kai stated, gazing off into neighborhood he was facing, his expression showing nothing of the real meaning behind the words.

"I do... I really… I'm gonna be straight with you, man. Don't hold this against me," Tyson started, taking a deep breath and feeling butterflies erupt in his stomach, "I wanna get laid." Tyson finished, he looked intensely at the ground, feeling his cheeks heat up until they felt like they must be glowing.

There was silence, momentarily. A moment that stretched longer than Tyson would have liked, he felt extremely insecure, which was becoming a common occurrence around the taller male. Kai took another drag from his cigarette.

And then Kai laughed. Kai Hiwatari _laughed_. Again, the smoke from his lungs rolled out his mouth with every chuckle.

"T-That's… pathetic." The older boy mumbled when he began to calm down a bit. By now, Tyson was really regretting saying anything. This guy must think he's the biggest loser on Earth!

"Ugh." Tyson grunted, looking defeated, miserable, and mostly embarrassed.

Kai coughed once, and threw his cigarette butt on the ground, and then stepped on it.

"Fine. I'll take your case, only as charity, as it really seems you need it. There's a party tonight, meet me here at 7o'clock, _sharp_, and I'll get you laid. And then you can leave me alone." Kai finished, turning around so his back was to Tyson. "Don't wear anything stupid." Kai finished, walking off dramatically. The guy really knew how to make a scene.

Tyson, on the other hand, was left gawking at the spot Kai had left him. He gawked continuously, for about ten minutes, before realizing that Kai had invited him to a party. A _party_. He'd never been to party before! Especially a party where people, like him, could get _laid_!

Tyson could barley contain himself, he practically skipped his way into the dojo.

* * *

Tyson paced around his room anxiously. He'd finished his kendo training in a timely fashion, after telling his grandfather he was going to a party with his friend. Gramps had replied with a simple, "Little dude's going to a party? Have fun, dog, but don't go getting' too slick with them lady friends." The old man warned, Tyson just rolled his eyes and groaned before leaving their practice to shower.

Now, however, he was contemplating what Kai meant by, "Don't wear anything stupid". The words rang in his ears as he looked over his assortment of primary colored T-shirts, navy blue jeans, and red jackets. The teen was feeling completely lost in his own very simple wardrobe.

"Does yellow look stupid? Maybe blue would be better?" The Japanese boy moaned, tossing his shirts around the room. "What time is it…?" Tyson looked to his clock.

"_Shit_!" The teen exclaimed as the clock struck ten minutes until seven. Tyson pulled on the clothes he'd worn to school and ran out the front door of the dojo, just barley sliding it shut. "Bye, Gramps!" He yelled as an after thought as he jogged out onto the street.

The walk to the spot Kai had left him earlier that day was a very short one, less than a half a mile, but Tyson didn't want to risk being late and therefore left out and losing any chance of getting laid. He didn't think he could take another night playing COD on his own.

He approached the fence awkwardly; humming to himself with his hands stuck in his jeans pockets.

"You're not going to make this easy, are you?" A dark, somewhat husky voice came from behind Tyson. The younger boy grinned wildly at the approach of his new perceived friend.

"Kai! Hey man! You look slick." Tyson said, looking at his friend. Kai had abandoned his typical black shirt and black jeans attire. The older boy now wore, quite well as Tyson noted, a pair of baggy black jeans, a crisp white shirt, and a black blazer that was completely unbuttoned. Tyson grinned, feeling cool by association.

Kai pulled out his pack of cigarettes, pulling one out and lighting it once he placed it between his lips.

"Those aren't any good for you, you know. Are you even legal?" Tyson asked, though he regretted it when Kai just rolled his eyes.

"Shut up and follow me. Or shoot me, that'd be fine too." Kai muttered, turning around and stalking off in the direction he came, a line of smoke left in his wake.

"Okay, man!" Tyson said and jogged after the senior. "Where we going?" Tyson asked, looking up slightly to Kai, who was staring directly ahead, almost intensely.

"My apartment." Kai replied, throwing the end of his cigarette into the road and continued walking.

Tyson opened his mouth to say something, but Kai beat him to it. "Gonna ask me if I'm legal again?" The older boy drawled, and Tyson snapped his mouth shut appropriately.

"Where's the party?" Tyson inquired after a few minutes passed; they were beginning to leave the quaint neighborhood around the school and into the more business oriented side of town.

"Friend of mine's house." Kai answered, not bothering to elaborate.

"Oh, so why are we going to your apartment?" Tyson asked innocently, looking around the street they currently walked on.

"Because you look like a third grader." Kai replied sharply, though Tyson could hear the amusement dripping with every word.

"Psh! I look like I do everyday! You think you're pretty clever don't you?" Tyson whined, grinning at Kai and ignoring the insult.

Kai shrugged and turned abruptly into the parking lot of an apartment building. Tyson scanned over the off-white colored building. It certainly wasn't extravagant, to say the least, as he jogged after Kai up a flight of stairs, running his hand along the painted metal hand rail. He followed the older boy, stopped with him in front of a door with the number "28" painted messily on the front. Kai unlocked the door and stepped inside, indicating for his companion to do the same.

"Nice place, dude." Tyson said quietly, looking around. It was a small apartment, but unlike the outside of the building it was clean and virtually spotless. The furniture was quaint and simple, the small kitchen was white and clean, only a mug or two sat next to the silver sink, waiting to be washed he presumed.

Kai had disappeared down the short hall next to the kitchen, so Tyson wandered over into the small living room that was located in front of the kitchen. He ran his hand along the navy blue couch, it looked nearly new. There was a TV situated on a small set of drawers, facing the couch, and a short coffee table separated the two. Tyson sighed, glancing out the window and noticing the lack of view Kai had from his living room. Outside all he could see was the parking lot and the road, all gray and empty.

"Here." Kai said, throwing a pile of clothes at Tyson. Tyson jumped at the sudden voice, catching the soft bundle quickly and looking at it.

"I'm going to look exactly like you." Tyson noted.

"Exactly. Since you want to get 'laid'" Kai deadpanned. Tyson laughed at the older boy, utterly happy to be in his presence. "Bathroom is the first door on the left. Make it quick." Kai grumbled, flopping down on his small blue couch. Tyson nodded, and walked towards the bathroom.

* * *

"So who is picking us up again?" Tyson asked as him and Kai stood outside his apartment building. The sun had gone down, as it was now approaching 8:30, and it was a bit chilly outside. Tyson had changed into the clothes Kai had given him, exactly the same outfit except in a gray blazer. Tyson thought they looked ridiculous, being so much alike, but Kai dismissed that idea thoroughly, looking at him as if he'd grown a second head. Despite his ego though, Tyson would admit he didn't fill out these clothes nearly as well as Kai, who was considerably bulkier.

"A friend of mine. His name is Tala. He's a Russian and you're supposed to shut up when we're around him." Kai repeated, for probably the third time of the night. Tyson was anxious, that was becoming clear, and Kai noticed how worried the younger looked, but ignored it.

"Right, right… I'll be quiet." Tyson nodded to himself, pressing his lips together and sighing.

"We'll talk about how to get girls once we get there." Kai informed Tyson, who lit up immediately.

"Awesome!" Tyson spun to face Kai and gave him two thumbs up. Kai rolled his eyes dismissively, glancing up as a car pulled into the lot.

"There he is. Get in the back seat and be quiet. Don't touch _anything_." Kai hissed, shoving his younger companion forward when the car stopped with both hands.

Tyson pried open the old, rusted silver door, and sat down inside the cramped vehicle, pulling on his seatbelt nervously. Kai sat in the front, next to a very intimidating red-haired boy with the iciest blue eyes Tyson had ever seen.

He shivered when the driver looked at him in the rearview mirror briefly.

"Make a new friend, Kai?" Tala asked, his eyes on the road as he pulled onto the side street in front of Kai's apartment building. Kai just grunted in response, pulling out another cigarette and lighting it, rolling his window down.

"What's your name?" Tala inquired once they stopped at a red light, staring at Tyson from the rearview mirror with one red eyebrow raised.

"His name is Tyson." Kai replied quickly.

"Does he not speak?" Tala asked quickly, his voice irritated.

"Shut up, Ivanov. I'm not dealing with your bullshit right now." Kai barked, puffing on his cigarette and glaring out the window.

"Do you speak?" Tala asked Tyson, and Tyson swallowed. What was he supposed to do here? He didn't want to piss off Kai but he didn't want to embarrass him by acting like an invalid either…

"Yes. I'm Tyson Kinomiya; it's nice to meet you." He said quickly, cringing for impact.

"Ahh, Tyson. What an interesting name. I'm Tala Ivanov, partner in crime to this grouch here." Tala said, indicating towards Kai. Kai huffed, glaring daggers at his 'partner in crime'.

"Oh. Cool." Tyson remarked, looking out the window and wondering where they were. He wished he'd paid more attention, because he'd never been to this part of town before. The houses were small and beat-up looking, and the streets empty in the dark.

"We're here!" Tala chimed as he pulled up to a green house with many cars parked in the street and driveway by it.

Kai got out of the car, looking at Tyson with an exasperated glare. Tyson scrambled out of the car and stood next to Kai as Tala turned the car off.

"It's busy…" Tyson noted, nodding to himself at all the cars and people milling about.

"No shit, Sherlock." Kai grumbled, walking off suddenly. Tyson followed like a lost puppy, feeling completely out of place at the house. Everyone looked at Kai and smiled at him, waving. The senior basically ignored them, while walking briskly through the small house. They reached the kitchen, located in the very back of the small house, and Kai stopped to look at Tyson.

"Don't make me regret bringing you here." Kai said seriously, looking at Tyson with his intense glare. His blood-colored eyes make Tyson gawk insecurely, his mind and body freezing like before when Kai looked at him like that. Tyson just nodded, not trusting his voice.

"I want you to stick with me for a bit. There's a lot of girls here and the majority are drunk. That will make them really easy. Here, take this." Kai said, pulling out his pack of cigarettes and offering them to Tyson.

"I don't smoke." Tyson said quickly, looking at the small white and red pack like it was going to eat his first born.

"Idiot. Offer one to the girl you want, if she takes it, you're half way there." Kai said, leaning against the cheap counter as Tyson took the pack gently and stuck it in his blazer pocket.

"How do you figure?" Tyson asked innocently.

"Because girls smoke when they're nervous or anxious or some shit. You get her nervous; she's not going to say no." Kai said matter-of-factly. "Oh, and always go for the hottest one you can find. They're the easiest for a beginner like yourself." Kai said simply, Tyson's mind reeled.

"That can't be true…" Tyson said quietly, looking around at the almost empty kitchen.

"Trust me. The hot ones are the most emotionally unstable. They think you only like them cause their hot, which is true. Most of the time, the only reason people like them is because their hot, so they have the lowest self esteem. Tell them you think they're smart or funny, not hot, and they're all yours." Kai stated, Tyson swallowed. He didn't realize this guy had a formula for picking up girls… Only the hot girls, none the less.

"How do you know all this?" Tyson asked, cocking his head to the side. Kai gave him a bitter and small grin.

"Practice makes perfect." He said, his voice husky and rich. Tyson sighed, feeling extremely guilty for playing into the girls soft-spots (Not the good kind) to get some from them. He couldn't help but feel like scum.

"You're doubting yourself." Kai said, whacking Tyson on the back of the head once. "Knock it off. It's fine. Just follow me for awhile, I'll show you." Kai said, Tyson nodded, chewing on his bottom lip. He felt guilty before he'd done _anything_ but…. It was too late now. And he really did want to get laid.

End Chapter Two

* * *

A/N: So that's chapter two. Kai's girl picking up formula was given to me by a good friend of mine, who says it's fool-proof. Haha, I don't even know. It sounds good, right? Anywho, sorry making Kai such an ass and more OOC than I intended, I hope to put him back in character more next chapter. Though I will say I am channeling the manga/first-season Kai who makes witty comments every once and awhile. :)! Hope you like it. Review, my critters…

Oh, and some special shout-outs;

**Inside the Box:** You're such a sweetheart! You made my entire week with reviewing Tyson's Brilliant Plan and Lucky Us. Ohhhh goodness, I woke up and checked my reviews on my iPod and was like "OMG I HAVE A FAN." And so I sat down and wrote this chapter an hour later haha. I think we should be friends, because your reviews are really helpful in letting me know what is good and what is not. So I think I love you… (Awkward, no?)… Oh! And Ray will be entering soon. You see, I have trouble writing Ray because his personality is so mild and so different from manga to anime. He'll be coming though, as a minor character, possibly with Mariah in tow. Kenny will make an appearance soon too, as I kind of love him but have trouble writing him as well. Tala wasn't supposed to enter the story, but he just kind of… did. I have little control over my story-writing mind lol… Oh, and Max & Hil are like my favorite couple next to TyKa… They just work for me. After reading TechnoRanma's "The the Right Of Way" I was HOOKED! They also remind me of myself and my ex so it's a little nostalgic for me I guess. Wow, long reply, no?

**Katmonty:** To answer your question, Kai will be the seme and Tyson will be the uke, as you might notice from this chapter Kai has the dominant role in the relationship now and Tyson is his grasshopper, kind of. You see? So, I don't think that dynamic will change much. They'll both be strong characters, Tyson will never be a whiny, super girly uke or anything though. I go for a mutual 50/50 kind of relationship with dominance and whatnot. I think Kai is a big softy anyways… deep down… very deep. Thank you much for the kittens, and even more for the love :) Hope you enjoyed my second installment and will continue to be awesome. 3 Loves.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three-

A/N: I may get a little crude in this chapter…

* * *

The bass was turned up so high in the living room of the house that Tyson could feel the ground pulsing with it, the noise of some trashy-rap music he'd never heard before assaulted his ears like knifes. He was leaning against a couch, one not unlike the one sitting in Kai's apartment, and glancing out into the crowd of teenagers, most in which were older than he was.

The young teen looked at the red cup he held; almost laughing at how stereotypic it all was, though his cup was filled with only diet coke and none of the copious amounts of alcohol available. He sighed, taking a sip from the flat soda.

Kai had wandered off with some chick he'd just met about 20 minutes prior, giving Tyson the go-ahead to get his own. Tyson, however, was having little luck.

Girls would look at him, yes, smile at him even, but none approached him. Kai had mentioned, always wait until they come to you, but Tyson doubted it. He felt insecure in Kai's cool clothes, his cheeks red from the warm house packed with bodies. He glanced at the couch, coughing and almost spraying the soda in his mouth as he realized just how intimate the two teens there had gotten.

_Awkward. _

The young teen waited. And waited. And waited. He eventually got bored of staring at his shoes, and his cup, and the floor, and scanned the room again… His gaze stopped squarely on a very attractive blonde girl, who met his eyes coyly. Tyson felt his heart leap in excitement, maybe he _was_ going to get laid after all, but he had to play his cards just right for this one.

The blonde had murky brown eyes, which looked dazed with alcohol. Ah, perfect! Tyson gave her a small smile, checking her out thoroughly like Kai had with the girl he'd taken earlier.

She giggled.

Tyson licked his lips, feeling confident that he was getting somewhere. He gave her a chin-up, indicating she should come over. The girl obliged, making her way through the crowd.

Tyson felt his mouth begin to water. He could definitely see why boys were often compared to dogs.

She approached him, smiling flirtatiously, her hips swaying like she had a medical problem. When she reached him, she put a hand on his arm softly and licked her own lips, an attempt to look sexy.

_Gulp_.

"Hey, what's your name?" Tyson barley choked out, his pulse beating like a jackrabbit… On speed.

"Me? I'm Amber, what's your name, sweetie?" Amber asked sweetly, her high-pitched, nasally voice made Tyson's left eye twitch incessantly.

"Tyson. You look very nice tonight, A-Amber." Tyson stated, his nerves kicking in. Thankfully, the girl didn't seem to notice as she scanned him up and down, leaning in close to his neck and talking in a whisper. God, could she get any easier? Why did this bother Tyson, suddenly?

"Thanks, Tyson. I love that name, it's very sexy." She purred.

_Double gulp._

"T-thanks." Tyson ground out, feeling incredibly awkward. She laughed excessively, and nuzzled herself onto his neck. Tyson instantly felt weird. Her soft, girly skin and overly sweet perfume stench were not doing it for him this time.

"Why don't we get out of here, hmmm, Tyson?" She purred again, her voice dark and sultry, making the young teen squeak, a less-than-manly reaction.

"Yeah. Sure." He replied as she pulled his hand in the direction of the staircase. Tyson felt his pulse speed up again, and his face burned. He felt himself tense up when presented with the first stair to climb to the upstairs. Maybe this was a bad idea? Nah, couldn't be, he might get laid, after all!

The two teens climbed the stairs to the bedrooms, and Amber pulled him into the first open one she saw (Though there couldn't have been more than 3 in the tiny house). The blonde girl closed the door with an audible 'click!' and Tyson suddenly felt very, very inexperienced. The girl looked at him darkly.

"Are you drunk?" Tyson asked suddenly, finally noticing the slight stumble to her step and slur to her words. The girl giggled. Tyson cringed.

"Tipsy, maybe." She said, smiling and crinkling her nose, an attempt to look cute. Tyson, however, did not like this at all. Kai did say drunk = easy, but for the first time in a long time, Tyson didn't know if he wanted to get laid.

"Uhh… Well…" Tyson murmured as she approached him, his eyes wide and nervous. He suddenly felt like a deer in headlights, he wanted to run, really, but he was frozen with terror.

His heart pounded mercilessly as she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing her chapped and sticky-with-lipgloss lips to his.

Tyson decided right then. If there was no boner by now_, it wasn't gonna happen_.

Tyson fled.

"I-I gotta go! Bye!" He said quickly, ripping himself from her light embrace and fleeing the room like it was on fire.

Tyson flew down the stairs, his limbs aching with the adrenaline rush. He ran through the hall, past the living room, and out the front door in record time. The cool night air hit him, leaving the young teen confused and pissed as hell at himself.

"Couldn't handle it, kid?" A familiar voice came from Tyson's left, he spun to face the source of the question, only to find ye holy Kai. He was just as cool and collected as he had been earlier, and was smoking a cigarette lazily like he usually did.

Tyson felt his cheeks heat up again, though this time in shame. He'd never been so embarrassed.

"Don't worry. I wouldn't have done Amber either." The older teen said, Tyson looked at him quickly, cocking his head to the left subconsciously. "She's gross." He stated simply, finishing his last drag and smashing the cigarette with his foot, grinding it into the ground.

"How many of those do you smoke everyday?" Tyson asked suddenly, a little bitter. The older looked up, a bit surprised at the question, but shrugged coolly.

"Two packs, usually." Kai dismissed, looking at Tyson intensely. Tyson was beginning to wonder if that intense look was even intentional, or if Kai just naturally burned holes in people with his eyes. Wouldn't be surprising with this guy, really. Tyson sighed, feeling a bit more relaxed and a lot more redeemed.

"That's a lot. Must get expensive." Tyson said logically.

"Mhm." Kai agreed, nodding. "This party is stupid. Let's leave." Kai said, pulling out his cell phone, dialing a number and holding it to his ear. "Tala? We're leaving. I'm taking your car." Kai said simply and hung up. Tyson gaped at him dramatically.

"Won't he mind?" Tyson asked quickly, fearing the reaction of the redheaded Russian. If Kai could burn holes with his eyes, that guy could cause combustion.

"Yeah, probably, I don't care." Kai stated, walking across the poorly lit street to the small, beat-up silver car.

"Weren't you with some girl?" Tyson asked once he was sitting in the front seat, his seatbelt buckled.

"You ask a lot of unnecessary questions." Kai answered bluntly. Tyson chuckled.

"So you were, huh, Kai?" He grinned at the older teen who glanced at him momentarily, turning the car on and pulling into the deserted street.

"Yeah. I was. She wasn't any good." Kai shrugged, rolling his window down half way and letting the breeze ruffle his messy hair slightly as their speed increased.

"I don't even know what that means…" Tyson admitted, looking out his own window, feeling sullen.

"Stop worrying so much. You're still only what, 16? Knock it off, and suck it up." Kai said boldly, his voice never wavering from it's deep and husky tone. Tyson looked at the older teen, who gave him a glance that Tyson couldn't read.

"Kai, you're pretty cool." Tyson said, grinning again once Kai turned to watch the road.

"Yeah, whatever." Kai dismissed the idea but Tyson couldn't help feeling a little giddy. He was relieved that Kai didn't laugh at him for not being able to sleep with Amber, and didn't get mad because he didn't want to drink, and didn't mind him tagging along… Really, he couldn't be so bad.

Max and Hilary just didn't know what they were talking about.

* * *

"Hello?" Tyson answered his phone groggily, pressing it to his ear, and wiping the drool from his mouth.

"Tyson! Good morning, buddy! How are you? Still wanna go to the arcade?" Max's sweet voice chimed through the phone. The American blonde was obviously a morning person.

"Yeah man… sure. Lemme get dressed and I'll meet you there, k?" Tyson said, sitting up in his bed and yawning.

"Okay! You'll have to tell me about the "plans" you had for last night." The blonde said quickly, remembering what Tyson had said the day before.

"Oh… Yeah. I'll meet you there soon, k, Max?" Tyson grumbled, swinging his legs off his bed.

"Yeah man. Bye!" Max chirped.

"Bye." Tyson said and flipped the phone closed. Memories from the night before came rushing back in waves. And, _oh shit_, Maxie wanted to know about it.

Ah well, hopefully Hilary wouldn't be tagging along to nag them both… Not that it wouldn't surprise him, as Hilary goes everywhere Max goes, basically.

Tyson pulled on the first pair of jeans and a shirt he found on his floor. He had lain out Kai's cool clothes on the end of his bed, to keep them nice, for when he was to return them to the older boy on Monday.

Once dressed, Tyson quickly brushed his hair and teeth, then rushed downstairs and to grab a granola bar.

"Hold up there, diggity dog, where you kickin' it today?" Gramps walked into the kitchen at the right time, looking at his grandson with a suspicious smile.

"Me and Max are going to the arcade. I should be back by dinner!" Tyson barked quickly, walking towards the door.

"I dig!" Gramps said as his grandson left the room in a flash, sliding the dojo door open, and then closed, before jogging out past the front gates.

* * *

_Ding! Ding! Ding! _

"YES! NEW HIGH SCORE!" Tyson wailed at the machine excitedly, jumping up and down and pounding on the buttons harder than he should.

"Alright, man! You rock!" Max said, patting his friend on the back as the game ended.

"Man, I rock." Tyson grinned at his American friend.

"You do, but dude, I'm starving." Max replied, holding his stomach to prove his point. Tyson nodded.

"Dude, you know I can always eat." Tyson said and the two walked out of the arcade towards the trashy, but delicious according to Tyson, fast food restaurant across the street.

"So how was the movie, Maxie?" Tyson asked as the two walked through the glass doors and into the fake fluorescent lights.

"It was good. Unfortunately, Hilary isn't scared of anything, so I was the one cowering." Max admitted with a sheepish grin as the two waited in line.

"Hah! That girl is… not a girl." Tyson teased, sticking his tongue out at his friend.

"You're so _articulate,_ Tyson." Max deadpanned.

"Articu-what? Is that an insult?" Tyson asked playfully, as they reach the counter.

The two boys ordered their food and went to sit at a booth near the front window, looking out onto the busy urban street.

"So, what did you do last night?" Max asked, narrowing his eyes slightly as his blue-haired friend.

"Don't tell Hilary." Tyson said seriously, giving Max the best glare he could, but failing miserably.

"No guarantees." Max said, knowing himself and his aptitude to tell her everything.

"Whatever. Just try then. She'll just get angry, hah…" Tyson said, looking up as a very disgruntled looking worker set their tray down noisily, walking off in a huff.

"Go on." Max urged, chewing delicately on a fry.

"I went to a party!" Tyson said sarcastically, looking for Max's reaction, which was nonexistent.

"…and?" The blonde asked. Tyson sighed.

"Kai invited me." Tyson said with a sugary sweet smile, hoping desperately to win his best friend over.

"Tyson!" Max whined dramatically, furrowing his eyebrows and generally looking like a drowned rat.

"And then I made out with this girl, Amber." Tyson continued, looking at his food. Exaggerating a bit couldn't hurt, no?

"Amber? Ew. She's gross." Max laughed.

* * *

A/N: Alright. Sorry it's short, but that's all you get for now, critter bugs! Okay guys, so I've been thinking about this story a lot and have got some major plot twists coming… I've been TOTALLY hinting at them. There will be a happy Tyka ending though, no worries, I'm not a badass. Review for me, lovely's! :D

And a few responses for my love varmints (AKA reviewers…):

Inside the Box: Here's MY reply to YOUR reply to MY reply: You already know of my undying love for you, so I went to your profile to see what you've written and I saw your name was Amy. Therefore, I am going to knight you in Emziie-land as Amziie. OMG. CUTE. SQUEE. OH ME. Anyways, I did in fact write chapter 2 after reading you review, as it was very encouraging. I am late writing this chapter because I am a lazy sack of shit who stayed out way too late Saturday night. I hope it's not too disappointing. Oh, and yes, I own the entire Beyblade manga series xD. I like the Kai from it better… Ehh! I hope you enjoyed it, my dear Amziie. Let's be friendziies. I'm insane.

Oro Makoto Hayama: I'm glad you're diggin' it. I'm diggin' your reviewin's, ya dig?

Yoko Fujioka: Thank you for the reviews! I'm glad you think Kai is staying pretty IC! I still think I could do better, for I tried very hard in this chapter (Minus a few lines towards the end there… heh.)

Inyoface: You're too sweet! Thank you! I was trying not to have a completely cliché high school fic, but I do admit I love them… I'm glad you're enjoying my story, and my disturbing depiction of Tala, aha…ha…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four-

A/N: Huzzah! It is here!

* * *

"TYSON!"

"YOU _TOLD HER_?"

"YOU'RE _SUCH_ AN IDIOT, TYSON! I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M FRIENDS WITH YOU!"

Tyson, and his dear friend Hilary, were yelling at each other from approximately three feet apart. The cafeteria had initially quieted to listen to see if there was anything interesting going on, but because there wasn't, really, the rest of the students were back to their morning chatter.

"C'mon, Hil… It's ok, sweetie pie." Max tried to consol his girlfriend, who was looking more and more like a flustered cat than anything. The brunette glared daggers at her friend, just barely letting Max's soothing take effect. She was _not _a happy camper.

"I really just don't see what the big deal is. He isn't as bad as you might think; he's even pretty nice to me!" Tyson justified at a more acceptable volume. The blue haired teen really didn't see the issue. Did Hilary or Max even know Kai? How could they be so quick to judge him? He didn't get it.

"He's not bad? He's worse! You don't even… have a clue, Tyson!" Hilary said, annoyed but looking less furious tucked under Max's arm. She was still glowering and sputtering like an angry kitten, however.

"I think I know him better than you do, Hil." Tyson barked, glaring at the brunette who just shook her head.

"You'll regret being his friend, Tyson. I'm being serious." Hilary gave her last warning as the bell rang, indicating that the students should get to class.

"Whatever, Hil." Tyson dismissed, walking away from his friends and towards his first class.

* * *

The rest of the day, as usual, went without major conflict. By third period, Max, Hilary, and Tyson were all best friends again, and ate lunch together like usual. They joked, they laughed, and Tyson ate just over half of everyone's lunch in addition to all of his own. Kai Hiwatari was not mentioned or seen until after the friends split at the end of the day.

"See ya!" Tyson waved, heading off in the direction he always did after school.

"Bye Tyson!" Max waved back, his arm slung casually over his girlfriends' shoulders.

"Mondays sucks…" Tyson mumbled to himself with a sigh, gripping his backpack strap with his left hand tightly and walking at an unusually brisk pace for the somewhat lazy teen.

Tyson grumbled, well, until he turned the corner and found his new BFF leaning in usual fashion against the chain-link, a cigarette hanging from his mouth. Tyson grinned and felt his own excitement bubble in his throat.

"KAI! HEY, KAI!" Tyson said loudly, his voice nearly shrill with over enthusiasm. Kai just gave him an exasperated look, scoffing as the younger teen came walking up to him, casually invading his personal space.

"Pipe down, idiot." Kai grumbled, pulling his cigarette from his mouth and blowing the smoke out in a huff towards the younger teen. Tyson squinted his eyes, the tobacco-rich smoke making them water and his throat burn.

"How do you even smoke those things?" Tyson asked, waving a hand in front of his face and smiling.

Kai shrugged in response, looking towards the last few students that were leaving the school. He did a chin-up at someone, and then looked back at his younger companion.

"So you aren't going to leave me alone?" Kai asked shortly, throwing the cigarette butt on the ground and stepping on it. Tyson nodded, oblivious to all social cues.

Kai sighed deeply, running a hand through his already wild and messy gray hair. His blood-colored eyes scanned over the younger teen that stood staring at him, with an almost stupid grin on his face.

"Are you any good at functional analysis?" Kai asked suddenly, looking at Tyson quickly.

"Functional analysis? You mean math?" Tyson asked himself out loud and then nodded. "Actually, yeah. It's the only subject I don't fail regularly." He laughed at his own truth, and looked to the ground insecurely.

"Wonderful. Hopefully you can be useful then. C'mon." Kai said, walking away from the spot in the vague direction of his apartment in his usual fast pace.

"Now? Wait, what? Dude!" Tyson looked around confusedly, before jogging after Kai. "Lemme call and tell gramps I'ma be late." Tyson said, pulling out his cell and flipping it open.

* * *

"So if the parent graph is 2 to the x power, then the critical points on the x axis are -1, 0, and 1, and on the y axis they are 1/2 , 1, and 2, in that order?" Kai asked casually, chewing delicately on the black pencil he'd been writing with.

"Yeah, perfect. So if we transform the graph by changing the exponent to x+2 what happens?" Tyson asked, suddenly feeling very important to his friend.

"The parent graph moves to the right by two." Kai answered, staring at the graph paper and scrutinizing it.

"…No." Tyson informed him reluctantly. "It moves to the _left_ by two." He said, sketching the answer on the paper with an arrow pointing in the correct direction. Kai threw his pencil down dramatically.

"That doesn't make and god damn sense!" The older boy said, his voice tense and frustrated.

"Well, think of it this way. The x+2 are like… married. And anything that is married is in parenthesis because they can't be split up. And you remember, from earlier this year, that any values in parenthesis in functions are actually the opposite of what they are outside of them. So x+2 in parenthesis is really x-2." Tyson finished, nodding to himself and looking up at Kai, who was looking anything but cheerful. The older teens jaw was locked and he was glaring at his poor tutor like murder.

"I guess I can remember that…" Kai sighed, taking a deep breath and laying back on his couch. The two teens were on either side of Kai's short coffee table. Tyson was on the floor, whilst Kai chose to sit on his quaint navy blue sofa.

"I guess you're done for today?" Tyson asked quietly, flopping down on the carpeted floor and closing his eyes. They'd been studying for Kai's retention test for a few hours, and it was becoming exceedingly obvious the senior didn't have a basic understanding of mathematics.

"Yeah. I need a smoke." The older boy said, sitting up and grabbing the pack from the short table. Tyson sat up, watching intently as the older boy dug around in his pocket for his lighter. Kai slid his main window open, and leaned against the window sill. He set the white stick between his lips and lit in quickly, sucking in the chemicals and starting the slow burning.

"When did you start?" Tyson asked suddenly, watching the older boy as if he was in a trance.

"Start what?" Kai asked, blowing a lung-full of smoke out the window.

"Smoking." Tyson replied, crossing his legs and cocking his head slightly.

"I think I was 13." Kai said casually, closing his eyes to, presumably, savor the moment.

"That's really young." Tyson noted, nodding to himself and pursing his lips. "Why?" Tyson inquired.

"What is this? 20 questions?" Kai asked sharply, opening his eyes lazily to glare at his 'friend'.

"I'm just curious. You're kind of closed off, man." Tyson said to the older, standing up and walking over to the window as well. He leaned his head against the wall and admired the view of the parking lot and road.

Kai just shrugged and grunted. "Wanna try it?" Kai asked suddenly, offering the white cancer stick to the younger teen.

Tyson eyed the small item suspiciously. These things meant cancer. And yet… If Kai did it, it couldn't be too bad. Gramps would kill him.

He reached out for it anyways, grasping the delicate white stick daintily, holding it more like a joint than a cigarette. He brought it to his lips insecurely, and looked once more at Kai.

The older boy had both eyebrows raised slightly, is mouth slightly parted. Tyson couldn't help but grin a little bit at the idea that he surprised the older boy. Maybe he couldn't get laid, but he could smoke a cigarette!

Tyson placed the filter in his mouth and closed his lips around it. The texture was not nearly as unpleasant as he expected. He sucked in the air softly as first, feeling the warm and dry smoke enter his mouth, before blowing it out.

"It's not a cigar. You're supposed to inhale into your lungs." Kai informed him, his eye narrowed and harsh.

Tyson nodded, gulping once, before sucking again on the stick, feeling the smoke enter his mouth before opening his chest and letting the smoke bore down his throat.

Tyson immediately coughed, once, twice, three times. The smoke jutted out of his mouth and lungs erratically, and his throat burned like no tomorrow. The taste of the cigarette was strong on his tongue and he shook his head at the disgusting flavor.

"I don't get it." Tyson said, looking at the offending cigarette and shaking his head from side to side. Kai grinned, for the first time Tyson could remember, and slung an arm around his shoulder, pulling the younger against his side.

"You're crazy, you know that?" Kai chuckled, grabbing the cigarette with the same hand he had around Tyson, then brining his lips to it and sucking deeply. Tyson gulped at how close the older boy suddenly was, his eyes widened considerably as he studied Kai's lips around the cig. Kai smelled like cigarettes, definitely, but he also smelled a little spicy, or maybe a little musky, but it was entirely pleasant. Tyson froze, his body going rigid at so much contact. He felt insecure, and he felt his palms begin to sweat.

And then he felt his heart begin to race.

The blue-haired teen ducked under his friend's arms and backed up a few steps, his eyes wide and his balance unstable. Kai looked at his curiously, his formerly happy and carefree expression fading into something much darker.

"Sor-sorry." Tyson stuttered, swallowing reluctantly as his dry and burning throat protested.

Kai just raised an eyebrow, looking at the younger darkly and with a deeper sense of… anger?

"Oh! Wow! Look at the time! Man, I better get going. It's been real, Kai. I'll see you soon, buddy, bye!" And with that, Tyson was out the door and sprinting home like a maniac.

* * *

"Ty? You ok, bud?" Max asked, sitting at their regular lunch table around noon. The blue haired teen was acting strangely all day, and it was beginning to ruin the fun of his two friends.

"Huh?" Tyson asked, snapping his attention up to his blonde friend who looked at him with very concerned eyes.

"What's wrong, man?" Max repeated, his blue eyes meeting the darker blue of Tyson's.

"Oh, nothing…" Tyson sighed, looking back at his uneaten sandwich.

"Tyson? Max? Guys?" A small voice came from beside the table, both Max and Tyson looked at the brunette immediately.

"KENNY?" They both exclaimed at once, and were immediately on top of the small boy, smothering him with what could be described only as brotherly love.

"Dude! I didn't know you were coming back yet! This is awesome!" Tyson said excitedly, hugging the short brunette tightly.

"How was China? Did you get lots of studying done?" Max asked while his arms also, somehow, wrapped around the small boy.

"You guys… are hurting me…" Kenny squeaked, before both teenagers let him go.

"Tell us all about it!" Tyson said excitedly, sitting back down at this spot and gesturing for the other boy to sit with him. Hilary, who'd been present but ignored the whole time, looked at Kenny with a smile.

"Kenny, it's good to see you." She said sincerely as Max settled back in next to her.

"You too, Hil!" Kenny said pulling out his laptop and setting it on the lunch table.

"I'll tell you guys all about it later, but first, I want you to meet the friend I brought back with me." Kenny said, gesturing in the direction he came. Standing approximately ten feet from the table, an awkwardly large distance, stood a tall and lithe Chinese boy. He wore traditional Chinese clothes and had unbelievably long black hair, tied at the back of his head. His eyes were striking and the way he stood was reminiscent of a cat, ready to run or pounce at any moment.

"This is Ray!" Kenny said happily, coaxing the boy over.

"Hi Ray." Max greeted with a big smile.

"Hello. You must be Max, am I right?" The boy asked, his accent almost non-existent.

"Yeah, dude!" Max grinned, giving him a thumbs up. Tyson scooted over, as did Kenny, so the new boy could join the group as well.

"You must be Hilary, and you Tyson." Ray said, looking at the others with his shifty gaze.

"Mhm!" Tyson said, nodding wildly. Tyson's day was definitely looking up.

* * *

At the end of the day, the group stood chatting together happily, including the new student Ray.

"Tyson, do you think we could all hang out at your place and catch up? The dojo is the best!" Max exclaimed, gesturing with the one hand that was not laced with Hilary's.

"Yeah, man, let's do it. Gramps would love to see you all again." Tyson nodded, Kenny agreed and Ray did as well.

"Aw man this is so great! I can't believe you just went to China and brought home an exchange student. I mean, it's really cool and Ray is awesome, but Kenny, I didn't think you had it in you." Tyson stated and the group laughed and chatted about it.

As they rounded the corner, Tyson led the way and looked out for Kai. Kai Hiwatari was, in fact, in his usual spot partaking in his usual cancer-causing activity. The older boy just glanced briefly at Tyson without any real acknowledgment.

"Hey Kai!" Tyson said suddenly as their group approached the teen. Kai's upper lip twitched on one side. He looked pissed.

"Tyson, lay off. He's not worth your breath." Hilary added suddenly, her voice seething and her expression almost as malicious as Kai's.

"It's nice to see you too, Ms. Tachibana, considering we haven't chatted in awhile." Kai said smoothly, his voice too smooth and perfect. He was studying her intently, his eyes were a tiny bit bloodshot, and his calculating look indicated the fact that he was going in for the kill.

Silence descended on the group and the air suddenly became so tense it could be cut with a butter knife.

"In fact, if I remember correctly, which I always do," He paused with a smirk, "…the last time I saw you this close you were on my bed without any clothes on. Oh, how time flies." Kai said darkly. He looked at the usually strong willed girl with a cruel glint in his eye. He then looked to Tyson and met his eyes briefly, before walking away without a stray glance back at the silent group of teens.

Tyson felt his body go numb, understanding suddenly that Kai wasn't mad at Hilary… He wasn't even trying to piss Max off. He was royally pissed beyond comprehension at him and he couldn't think of any reason why that could be.

"Hilary, why did he say that?" Max's sugary sweet voice chimed softly from the back of the group.

* * *

A/N: Ohhh I'm a bad authoress! It's been nearly two weeks! Oh goodness… I hope this mega over dramatic teenage drama will make up for me. Oh, and so you're probably wondering by now if I'm like obsessed with cigarettes or something. The answer would be yes. I don't smoke, much, but I think they're really sexy and me and my friends share a cigarette whenever we go out and aren't going to get stoned. Uhh, don't ask… Either way, bad Emziie, bad! Update faster! I was going to edit this more and make it funny, but that might delay it's posting for a week or more and I couldn't do that to ya'll. I love you guys… Reviews for teen angst, my critters?

I'm, apparently, not supposed to reply to my love varmints (AKA reviewers) on my story. Well, fine. I won't. If you have any questions though, I will still answer them here. Just message me or drop a review and I shall answer! I love you guys dearly.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five-

A/N: Surprise! Another chapter! Basically I wrote this because of Inside the Box's absurdly long but absurdly adorable review haha... And also because of TalaTati19 who has never read a TyKa story before mine (*I'm honored*) AND NEEDS TO. Lol, if you like TyKa then you need to check out TechnoRanma and Feeling Glayish (They're authors, they're sisters, they're awesome)... As they are my inspiration and their stories are my true loves.

* * *

The awkwardness that continued the rest of that day was unbearable, at best. The result was Hilary leaving approximately 15 minutes after arriving, and Kenny and Ray dispersing as well. That, of course, just left a very afraid Tyson and an even more distraught Max in Tyson's bedroom.

"I don't get it…" Max said, his usual happy demeanor dwindled by the situation with Kai earlier.

"Me either, dude. It's not like Hilary could do any better." Tyson tried to reassure, though he felt tense at seeing his usually bubbly friend so… not bubbly.

"Well, apparently she 'did' Kai." Max said; his voice dry and unimpressed. Tyson chuckled.

"Kai does all girls. I doubt they had a serious relationship. Knowing Kai as well as I do, I'm betting Hilary was, at the very minimum, thoroughly tipsy." Tyson said, encouraged by the fact that Max seemed to be joking, even if just slightly.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better? You're saying my girlfriend, of a year, who will _absolutely not_ put out for me _no matter what_, would sleep with _Kai Hiwatari_ while _drinking_? You know Hilary, dude, she thinks alcohol is the devil incarnate." Max informed, emphasizing his words bluntly.

"Eh, that's a good point. Though Hilary did say it was before you started dating… and that he's just an asshole, I agree, so maybe they were… together?" Tyson tried desperately to piece it all together. The air was awkward again, as Max flopped down on his bed dramatically with a sigh, Tyson sat in the middle of his floor.

"I shouldn't care…" Max said quietly, staring at the white ceiling.

"Of course you should care, Maxie, man, she's your girl. You care about her, right? So, I guess it's only natural. I mean, remember when Hil found out about how your first kiss was with that weird blonde chick with the purple and green glasses?" Tyson reminded him.

"Frances? Yeah, she went nuts… But that's Hilary. It's part of her charm." Max said with a small laugh, the affection in his voice apparent.

"Well, do you want to break up with her?" Tyson inquired, already knowing Maxie surely didn't.

"No! Of course not. I love Hilary. It's just a little weird when a guy I didn't even know she knew comes and claims he did it with her in front of me and all her friends." Max said, remaining in his comfortable position on the bed, his arms crossed behind his head.

"Yeah, dude…" Tyson agreed, suddenly not having a clue what to say.

"I hope she's ok." Max said quickly, looking over at Tyson. "Could you text her and ask for me? I don't think she's ready to hear from me yet." Max finished.

"You text her. She's your girlfriend, man." Tyson scoffed at the idea.

"Please?" Max asked, his eyes wide, watery, and pleading. Oh, damn that best friend cuteness.

"Ahh! Alright, fine." Tyson grumbled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the small silver phone. He flipped it open and found Hilary on his contacts.

'Maxie wants to know if you're ok. Are you?' Tyson typed with the numbers and hit 'send'.

"Done!" Tyson said once the phone announced the message had been sent.

"Thanks man. I bet she's really embarrassed, I mean, she didn't exactly deny it and we all know Hilary doesn't like to look bad in front of her friends." Max said, sighing.

"Tch. She's fine, I'm sure." Tyson said, rolling his eyes.

Tyson's phone vibrated loudly on the wooden floor, indicating a message had been received. Tyson picked it up and read the message.

'I'm fine. Why didn't Max text me? Is he mad?' it read. Tyson read the message aloud to his American friend and began to type the reply.

'He was worried you wouldn't want to hear from him. He's not mad. Does Maxie even get mad?' Tyson replied, and sent it.

"Well dude, I think your relationship is saved, thanks to the help from Dr. Tyson." Tyson said with a grin.

"Dr. Tyson…?" Max laughed.

* * *

The next day at school went surprisingly well, Hilary and Max were back to normal and Kenny and Ray were not traumatized for life, an unexpected feat. Tyson was extremely pleased with his group of friends, who all seemed to be getting along exceedingly well.

After school that day, as the group broke up to head in their own direction for home, Tyson felt strangely nervous. He wanted to talk to Kai, and actually he wanted to punch him for being an asshole, but the thought of confronting someone who could practically shoot lasers from their freakishly colored eyes was not a promising task.

As he rounded the fateful corner, his nerves in check and his hands clenched tightly into fists, he looked up at Mr. Womanizer himself.

"Hello, Kai." Tyson said in a dainty tone, waltzing up to the older teen and standing to his side, not looking at the senior.

Kai didn't respond, but Tyson could see that he was still smoking his eternal cigarette lazily, apparently ignoring him.

"I, uh, wanted to talk to you." Tyson added, still refusing to look directly at the other teen.

Silence… A puff of smoke in his peripheral vision.

"I see you're really taking this conversation seriously." Tyson ground out, stubbornly refusing to give up, or look at the older boy. He huffed, and had to stop himself from stomping a foot. "I still, definitely, consider us friends, Kai. However, it would be in the best interest of our relationship for you not to insult and embarrass my friends. They don't like you as it is, though I tell them all the time you aren't so bad." Tyson finished.

Silence. Another puff of smoke.

Tyson growled and turned towards Kai, who was looking directly at him with a very unimpressed look. He had one eyebrow raised and both eyes narrowed slightly. Tyson gulped, feeling the lasers coming on.

"Kai?" Tyson asked weakly, feeling suddenly intimidated.

"Whatever." Kai snorted and walked off in the direction of his abode. Tyson gaped for a moment, before running spastically after his 'friend'.

"Kai! That was not my intended result!" Tyson wailed, catching up to the senior and trying desperately to maintain the brisk pace the older boy had set.

"C'mon, man… What's wrong with you?" Tyson asked weakly, feeling his resolve disappear. At the end of his sentence, Kai stopped abruptly. His face was tense and his nostrils flared.

"What's wrong with me?" Kai asked darkly, all familiarity seemed to dissolve from his presence, leaving Tyson feeling very alone with a very angry man.

"I didn't mean there was something wrong with you, Kai, I just meant to ask why you were ignoring me and stuff…" Tyson mumbled, facing the tall teen with knots in his stomach.

Kai looked away for a few seconds, then gave one bitter chuckle, before looking Tyson in the eye.

"Has anyone ever told you you're an idiot?" Kai asked, though there was no humor or playfulness in the question.

"Uhm, regularly, yes." Tyson nodded, pressing his lips together nervously.

"I'm not putting up with your shit today." Kai growled as he began again towards the apartment, his shoulders hunched slightly.

"Kai~~! I don't want to leave it like this! We're friends!" Tyson whined, jogging after Kai for the second time of the day. Kai ignored him and shoved his hands in his pockets, glaring at the path ahead.

* * *

"…Kai? Kai, what is that?" Tyson asked softly from his spot on the navy blue couch. Kai had in his hand, where he usually had a cigarette, a small blue glass pipe. He was putting a small amount of what appeared to be chopped up green leaves on the open end of it, then stuck it in his mouth and lit the leaves, pressing them down with the end of the lighter and breathing in deeply.

"…Kai? What are you doing?" Tyson asked, his eyes wide. The two teens were sitting on his couch on very opposite ends, watching some terrible daytime reality TV show. Tyson looked at Kai with big, curious eyes as the room filled with a scent he'd never smelled before.

"I refuse to babysit you sober." He answered, pulling the pipe away from his mouth and holding it delicately. He walked over to the window and opened it, Tyson assumed this was to keep the smell out, when in reality Kai just didn't want to hotbox the room and have to deal with a stoned Tyson, which was surely a fate worse than death.

"Uhmm? Well, what are you smoking that is making you… not sober?" Tyson asked warily. Kai gave him an exasperated look.

"Do you live under a rock?" Kai asked, completely flabbergasted at the complete innocent mixed with the confused look on the younger teens face.

"In a dojo… Under a rock… Same diff, right?" Tyson asked, grinning at his joke.

"What year are you again?" Kai asked slowly.

"I'm a junior." Tyson replied, nodding. "Now are you going to tell me what you're smoking?" Tyson asked completely clueless, though he was legitimately curious.

"A junior? Why don't I believe that…" Kai shrugged, putting the pipe to his mouth again and breathing.

"Kai! C'mon!" Tyson whined, letting his head flop back as if he was putting a ton of effort into this pursuit.

"Its pot, idiot." Kai said matter-of-factly. He was beginning to feel the effects, and therefore was feeling much less annoyed at the younger teen and a little more playful.

"Pot?" Tyson asked again, looking at Kai like he'd spoken another language.

"Marijuana?" Kai tried. Tyson gasped, throwing a hand to his mouth and looking utterly offended.

"That's… That's… That's…" Tyson repeated, looking around the room suspiciously. "….illegal." He whispered, looking at Kai with worried eyes.

"You are _such_ a freak." Kai snorted, setting his pipe on an ashtray on his small coffee table.

"Kai! You smoke cigarettes and… and… that?" Tyson noted, coming down from his miniature panic attack.

"No." Kai said.

"No? What?" Tyson looked confused.

"If it bothers you that much, pretend I don't. Didn't happen." Kai said and laid back against the back of the couch, closing his eyes.

"That's… Probably not going to happen." Tyson smiled, looking at Kai. Kai cracked an eye open and looked at his younger companion.

"You aren't so bad." Kai noted. "Do you still wanna get laid? I feel like we should work on that." Kai said quietly, looking more relaxed and human than he ever had before.

"Of course I wanna get laid!" Tyson exclaimed excitedly, then added, "Speaking of getting laid, did you really sleep with Hilary?" Tyson asked quickly, not really knowing what kind of state of mind Kai was in.

"Yeah. She was the first." Kai said simply, lolling his head over to look at his guest. "She was also the best." He said with a grin. He then laughed, really laughed, and Tyson just looked at him like he was crazy.

"When exactly did this happen, Kai?" Tyson asked, feeling confident to probe more as Kai seemed to be in a ridiculously good mood.

"I was a sophomore, she was a freshman… I was virginal, like you, but not quite as desperate…." Kai laughed again, looking at Tyson who just glared at him.

"Were you dating?" Tyson inquired, a little creeped out by Kai's sudden change of heart.

"Mhm… We were in love and all that bullshit." Kai drawled, closing his eyes again.

"You and Hil?" Tyson squeaked. "That doesn't… make any sense at all." Tyson concluded, nodding to himself.

* * *

A/N: SUPERFAST UPDATE ZOOOOOOOOM~~~! Uhh yeah, it's short. Whatever haha… I got my point across. I just wanted to tell all my love varmints how much your reviews for chapter 4 meant to me T.T! They were so sweet and encouraging and I'm glad I'm not loosing my audience… eheh. Sorry for all the drug reference and shit, I'm really just fucked in the head I guess. This story is M for a reason, folks! Ahaha… Oh, and I'm trying hard not to bash Hilary, as I sincerely like her (Because she reminds me of myself a few years ago lol…). I know, this plot is actually like going somewhere which is super unusual for me. Usually I have straight, linear, to-the-point, and planned-out-down-to-the-punctuation plots. This story writes itself sometimes, I swear, and my hands just type it. Weird, no? Reviews for another super fast update, perhaps?

Review replies because I'm ignoring what my dear friend said about not doing these on the stories... I'll make them short, okie?

TalaTati19: I'm so happy you're enjoying my story! I'm also super happy to have a new tyka fan in the making, no? :)

Shiona Acitiu: Ahhh maybe he does? I dunno yet. I'll have to ask him.

1chucha2: Kai will have angst, but it won't be unreasonable. He will have the angst of any secretly sensative teenager, I imagine.

Inside the Box: OH THE THINGS I DO FOR YOU. YOU'RE REVIEW MADE ME UBER HAPPY. I mean, wow, your attention to detail and you're analyzing my plot and... Wow. I think it's love 3

Kiray Himawari: Oh, I have given you a small piece of what happened between Kai and Hilary. ;) Hope to hear from you again!

Inyoface: Oooh what story of yours has Kai smoking a cigarette? I must read it .! Oh, and I'm glad you liked it. HOPEFULLY you'll like this chappie too... I updated really fast and all... :D


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6-

A/N: Chapter 6 already? Wow. We're flying, folks :)

* * *

"Alright, Mr. Kinomiya, you've only got one more note to deliver. After that, you're done with your duties and can go sit in the library or something." Ms. Albright informed the teen who just nodded.

"Alrighty, Ms. Albright. Thanks!" He waved to the lady, taking the small white slip from her hand. Tyson, every other day during third period, the period directly before lunch, was an attendance office aid. And despite the mundane sounding description… He liked it very much. All he had to do was run notes around the school, usually excusing kids from their classes to leave for appointments and whatnot. The best part was it wasn't graded, but was on a pass/fail system, and he got elective credit for it. All was well with Tyson's unpaid employment. He took it all very seriously.

The last note of the day was to room N134, the ceramics room. Tyson had never actually been inside the said room, so he was curious to see what was going on in there. Supposedly the class that was currently in was a ceramics 1 class, and the teacher had an aid working for her as well. This note was for some freshman whose name Tyson couldn't pronounce.

Tyson walked slowly through the halls, looking briefly at the yellow-painted lockers and the cuss words written on them in sharpie, and then the off-white colored tile floor. This school was not an attractive one at best… Who gives a high school the colors orange and yellow? Not only do they look horrendous together, but they make the students look like zombies against their loud and obnoxious shades.

Turning the corner, as to head down the art hall, Tyson watched the door numbers. N130…. N132…. N134. That was him. He reached out for the handle and twisted the knob, opening the door slowly and peering inside.

The classroom was larger than the other classrooms, and had tables covered in some fabric canvas with hordes of noisy freshman surrounding them. Tyson looked around for the teacher to hand the note to, but couldn't see anyone resembling an adult. Tyson walked up to the closest table, looking down at the seated freshman.

"Hey guys, where's your teach?" He asked loudly enough for them to hear over the deafening chatter.

"She's in the back room with her TA. That one, there. It should be unlocked." A girl with dark rimmed glasses and beady eyes replied, pointing to a door he hadn't noticed before.

"Uh… Ok. Thanks." Tyson nodded, raising an eyebrow and walking towards the door. He had to weave expertly through the tables and chairs scattered about, the class was obviously packed and clay was flying everywhere.

The door had a window on it, but the room seemed to turn a corner so Tyson couldn't see if anyone was inside, though the light was on. He twisted the handle, it was in fact open, and walked inside around the corner.

"Excuse me, Ms. Merritt…" He said before stopping mid-sentence.

Standing before him was Ms. Merritt, but also was none other than Kai Hiwatari. Oh, his luck! Tyson smiled slowly, like a Cheshire cat, at the sight of his friend.

"Yes, dear?" The short Asian lady asked, turning around and looking up at him. Her hair was wild and completely out of place, and her clothes were covered in dried clay and dust.

"I have a note for one of your students." Tyson said, holding out the white slip towards her.

"Oh, thank you, darling. You wouldn't mind helping Kai for a moment would you? Unloading the kiln is not a one person job and it may take me a minute to find… this kid." Ms. Merritt said, furrowing her eyebrows while attempting to read the name herself.

"Of course! Kai and I are good friends." Tyson said with a grin. The older teen was leaning against a round cylindrical… thing, that Tyson assumed was the kiln. His expression was somewhere between annoyed and pissed, as usual, and he had his arms crossed defensively.

"Wonderful! Be right back, my dears." The short lady said, walking out towards the room. The noise flooded the small space momentarily while the teacher went to tend to her students, but the room quieted again as the door shut.

"I like your apron." Tyson said with a laugh, observing the off-white apron Kai wore. Kai rolled his eyes and made a 'tch' noise, before turning back around towards the kiln.

"Be useful. Stand over here; I'm going to hand you these pieces and you're going to set them on that cart there." He said quickly, pointing to a black cart a few feet away from him. "Be careful, they're breakable." Kai finished.

"Okay." Tyson nodded, approaching the senior and standing next to him. Kai handed him a plate first, which Tyson admired for a second too long before another piece was in his face.

"So how did you become Ms. Merritt's TA?" Tyson asked casually, setting the plate delicately on the cart and then grasping the next item.

"I signed up for it." Kai said simply, handing him a dog-shaped cookie-jar that was painted poorly.

"I mean, do you do… ceramics?" He asked, taking the ugly jar and setting it next to the plate, careful not to let them touch hard enough to break.

"Yes." Kai answered, handing him another cookie jar, this one was a dinosaur whose head came off. It was taller than the other and very well-made, as far as Tyson could tell.

"I wouldn't have guessed that." Tyson smiled, holding onto the dino-jar with both hands and delicately setting it down next to the other jar, and the plate.

"Mhm." Kai replied, he was now leaning fairly far into the kiln to reach the rest of the artwork.

"It's cool though. I wish I had taken this class. It looks like fun." Tyson said with a grin at the polar-bear themed mug that was handed to him. "This stuff is really good." He noted, setting the mug on top of the plate softly.

"It's not for everyone," Kai started, pausing to stack a few small bowls of similar size to hand to Tyson, "You have to be patient." He said, handing the bowls to Tyson carefully, obviously not wanting to chip them.

"I can see that." Tyson said, the bowls felt cool in his hands, and rough. "These don't look water proof…" Tyson observed the bowls while he set them down.

"They aren't yet. They've only been through the bisque fire. They'll be glazed soon, and look like that." Kai said, indicating towards some pieces on the shelf. They were shiny, covered in a glass-like substance.

"Oh. Cool." Tyson grinned. Kai leaned down to grab the last piece in the small kiln, and brought it up slowly. "Holy cow, that's incredible!" Tyson smiled, looking at the piece Kai held close to his chest.

The piece was about a foot high and about two feet long, it was a phoenix. It, like the other pieces, was not yet glazed but the detail was incredible compared to the amateur work Tyson and Kai had been handling before. The phoenix had its head turned to the sky and its wings stretched out. It was painted brilliantly, the red, orange, and yellow were perfectly swirled on the ceramic piece. Tyson wanted to touch it, desperately. It was impressive. It was amazing. It was _beautiful_.

"Yeah." Kai said, cradling the ceramic bird and walking over to one of the shelves in the room, and setting it down in an open spot.

"You don't like it?" Tyson asked, cocking his head to the left a bit, confused as to why Kai wouldn't love the bird as well.

"No, I like it, I made it." Kai said simply, blowing the last remnants of dust off the bird and looking at it briefly, before turning to his younger companion.

"Kai… It's amazing." Tyson gushed, "It's so detailed! Every feather is there and…" Tyson said, walking over to look at the bird closer. "What's it called? Does it have a name?" Tyson asked, grinning at Kai who looked slightly embarrassed.

"I've been calling her Dranzer." Kai said quietly, avoiding looking at Tyson directly.

"Her?" Tyson asked with a chuckle. "That's too cute, Kai." Tyson laughed.

"Fuck off." Kai snapped, turning around and walking to the cart.

"I didn't mean to insult you, I really respect you man, that thing- I mean, Dranzer, is gorgeous." Tyson reassured his friend, watching as Kai inspected the cart and all the pieces on it.

"Yeah…" Kai sighed. The door opened and Ms. Merritt waltzed in.

"Boys! Ah, you finished! Oh, Kai! Look at that! She looks incredible, deary, you're such a talented young man." Ms. Merritt said, turning to the senior and setting a comforting hand on his shoulder, smiling at him. "However, lunch started 10 minutes ago. I forgot about you two in here! Ah well, have a nice lunch, boys." She said and walked out of the room.

"Kai…" Tyson breathed, admiring the bird, but also admiring its creator. Kai was turning out to be much more of a person than he ever imagined… If he couldn't get girls for being sexy, he could definitely pull out the sensitive artist type too.

"I'm outta here." Kai said, walking out of the room and flipping the light off as he went.

"Hey, dude! Wait up!" Tyson said and jogged after Kai. The older teen was pulling off his apron and hanging it up with others that looked like it next to a big, silver sink. He washed his hands, getting the clay dust off and brushed off his black jeans quickly.

"You're still here?" Kai asked, looking at Tyson with an unimpressed gaze.

"Where do you eat lunch? And with who?" Tyson asked, feeling curious. He never saw Kai around much at school.

"Depends." Kai shrugged, grabbing his black bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

"On?" Tyson asked quickly.

"What girl I'm trying to get with. Or not get with." Kai said, walking towards the door. Tyson followed.

"Oh, that's cool. Where you going today?" Tyson asked, watching as Kai paused to pull out a cell phone he'd never seen before. It was a fancy phone, black with a red snap-on cover. He clicked it a few times and then looked to Tyson.

"Looks like I'm with Sandy and Alexa today." Kai said boredly. "That leaves one for you, c'mon." He said, walking down the deserted art hall.

"Wait… one for me? You know I choke when it comes to girls…" Tyson said, beginning to panic slightly.

"Just relax and follow my lead. We're just sitting with them today. I'm sure by lunch tomorrow I could arrange for a hook up but…" Kai said, turning a few corners and walking towards the large cafeteria.

"Tha-that's ok." Tyson gulped. He wondered, quietly, in the back of his mind, what Max, Kenny, and Hilary would think but shook it off and followed the taller teen.

They walked through the cafeteria, Tyson was hiding desperately behind Kai's bulkier frame to avoid his friends seeing him, but once they were outside and around the corner of the building he relaxed.

"Dude, where are we going?" Tyson asked, the walk getting excessively long.

"To their spot. Don't eat anything either, they won't like that." Kai said, looking at Tyson suspiciously, whose face dropped immediately.

"What? No eating? I'll die!" Tyson wailed, chewing on his lip dramatically.

"Then don't come with." Kai growled.

"No, no… It's fine…" Tyson said. Finally they approached two girls sitting against a wall of the school as far away from anything as possible.

"Hey Kai." One of them said sweetly and gave him a coy smile. Tyson gulped.

"Sandy, Alexa." Kai greeted coldly. "This is Tyson." Kai said bluntly, nodding his head towards the blue-haired teen.

"Hi Tyson." The girl who spoke before said again. "I'm Alexa, by the way." The girl added, her eyes were dark brown and her lashes were full as they fluttered sweetly as she spoke.

"And I'm Sandy." The other girl spoke, Tyson liked her better. Sandy had light brown hair and big blue eyes, whilst her friend Alexa had dark brown, almost black, hair and dark brown eyes.

"Nice to meet you both." Tyson said with a nervous smile. Kai flopped down next to Alexa and pulled out a cigarette, setting it between his lips and lighting it expertly.

Tyson took this as his cue to sit next to Sandy, which he did, and smiled at her as sexily as he could- which turned out extremely awkward when she laughed at him.

"I don't think I've seen you around much, Tyson." Sandy spoke to him, looking at him with only a little interest in her expression.

"Oh yeah? Hah…" Tyson said, chewing on the inside of his cheek for sounding like an idiot.

"He's a junior." Kai said, sucking on his cigarette. "He's kind of a loser, too, so it's not surprising you haven't seen him around." Kai finished and Tyson huffed.

"I'm not a loser!" Tyson said, offended.

"If the shoe fits, princess." Kai barked, leaning forward to glare at him. Tyson gulped, his stomach began to hurt… Though it wasn't from hunger.

"Oh, Kai, I didn't know you hung out with juniors." Alexa said, leaning on the senior as he ignored her thoroughly.

Kai just grunted, his attention solely on his cigarette.

Tyson sat awkwardly, eventually Kai talked with the two girls, who swooned over him like he was a Greek god, which was not so far from the truth in Tyson's eyes. The guy was amazing; both girls were in love with him by the end of the 40 minute break.

"Bye Kai." Alexa said softly, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly and pressing herself to his toned body. Tyson felt prickly, not a good prickly, as he watched that go down. He must just be jealous Kai got a hug and he didn't?

"Tyson, you're cute. See you soon." Sandy said and reached up to hug him. Tyson hugged her back like Kai had done, wrapping his arms around her waist and letting her do all the work. However, he was surprised to find himself a little bothered when her body touched his, and it felt wrong like it had with Amber.

"You too, Sandy, bye." Tyson said quietly, lost in his own thoughts. He was confused at himself, he'd wanted to get laid for so long and then when a girl just hugged him… He didn't like it. It didn't feel anything like when Kai had…

Put his arm… around him...

That had felt really nice.

Wait, what the fuck?

* * *

A/N: Wow. 3 chapters in 3 days. What has gotten into me? Apparently the plot bunnies in my head have been having an orgy, because the ideas I have for this story are coming like CRAZY. I literally skipped school today, all of it, to sit here and write this chapter and eat and entire cheese pizza by myself. I'm such a fatty sometimes… goodness. As you guys can see, this is a slow moving story. I mean, I'm getting there. SEE? These things take time… I'm trying to act like a real authoress and actually build up to things and stuff. Oh, and if you couldn't tell, I'm a ceramics nerd… I tried to keep it up a minimum, Reviews for another super fast update?


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7-

A/N: HOLY SHIT I CAN'T STOP WRITING. IT'S A DISEASE…. :) I love you all dearly.

* * *

The birds were chirping and the bees were buzzing the next morning in Tyson's life. It was a Friday, and therefore, it was almost the weekend. Tyson whistled on his way to school, greeting the song birds grandly and waving at every person on the street he thought he knew. As he approached the two-story school, he glanced around at the student body for his little circle of friends.

Upon not seeing them anywhere, he scurried inside to the cafeteria to sit at their regular table. Lo and behold, his entire friend group was sitting around the small picnic-style table chatting away. Tyson observed a newcomer though… A girl, sitting next to Ray. He'd never seen her before but she seemed to be talking with everyone like _they _knew her.

Tyson walked up to the table, and greeted everyone with a hearty hello.

…only to get completely ignored by all but Max who gave him a look that said, 'Sorry man, I'm too whipped to talk to you now, but you're my BFF so I won't completely ignore you.'

Tyson rolled his eyes and huffed.

"Guys! C'mon." Tyson whined. Not only were they ignoring him thoroughly, except Max, but they made sure there was no where for him to sit. Tyson glared at the group.

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and upon pulling it, he found it was a text message from Max. He flipped the phone open, reading the message.

'Hilary is pissed you didn't sit w/ us at lunch yesterday. We're supposed to be ignoring you.' It read. Tyson shook his head and sighed dramatically, and typed back.

'Thanks for the info, man. This is stupid, though. Hil is a bitch sometimes!' he typed and jammed his finger against the send button. He watched Max, who very discretely read the text under the table. Tyson felt stupid and awkward standing by himself, being utterly ignored by his friends…

"Tyson." A voice came from behind him. Tyson spun around quickly, recognizing Kai's husky sound instantly.

"Hey man." Tyson said automatically, his eyebrows rose in surprise. Tyson noticed the table behind him go silent, so he glanced back to find the entire group, sans Max, glaring heatedly at him.

"Sandy and Alexa want to hang out again at lunch. You free?" Kai asked nonchalantly, looking around like he wasn't interested.

Tyson looked back at his friends, and noticed Hilary's mouth hanging open slightly despite Max rubbing the back of her neck at soothingly as possible.

"Yeah, I'm free." He shrugged and looked back to Kai. Kai looked him in the eye and smirked.

"C'mon then, we have some shit to talk about." Kai said, spinning around and walking away. Tyson paused to give Max one pleading look, mouthed 'forgive me', and then followed on Kai's heels like a trained collie.

* * *

"So what do you _never _do?"

"Act like I'm nervous."

"Because?"

"They can smell fear." Tyson replied. He and Kai were sitting practically nose-to-nose outside the cafeteria behind a tree. Kai had informed his lady-friends they would be a little late, not that there was a good reason; he was just a busy man, to which they were fine with. Kai was attempting, somewhat determinedly, to get Tyson to stop acting like an idiot around his lady-friend, because he had a reputation to upkeep.

"Good." Kai said, leaning back and sighing. "You're definitely a piece of work, Kinomiya." Kai said dryly.

"Well, if you aren't up for the challenge…" Tyson said with a grin, teasing his older friend.

"Don't even start. I'm doing this out of the vast kindness in my heart, kid." Kai deadpanned. Tyson laughed… Hard. It wasn't often Kai would be open enough to joke with him. It was like taming a wild animal, trying to be Kai's friend, approach and retreat, approach and retreat…

"We're supposed to be there soon." Kai said, looking at the time on his phone. However, instead of getting up to leave he flopped down on his back in the grass and closed his eyes.

"Kai, aren't we supposed to go now, then..?" Tyson asked his quietly, slightly mesmerized by how peaceful Kai looked.

Kai sat up so quickly one would think he'd been shot. Tyson looked at him like he's lost his mind.

"Kinomiya! Don't you remember? We talked about this." Kai barked, glaring daggers at his student.

"OH! RIGHT! Always make them wait. I could see how that applies." Tyson nodded, looking at Kai who returned to his happy laid-down position.

"It's one of my main 3 principles. All situations can be applied to one of the three. What are the other two, you vegetable?" Kai asked, his tone that of a lecture.

"The other two… Oh right! More anxiety makes it easy, and no cuddling." Tyson said, grinning at the older teen that still had his eyes closed.

"Good. Now shut up, I'm napping." Kai mumbled. Tyson rolled his eyes and flopped down as well, rolling over so he a few feet to Kai's right.

"Why are you being my friend, Kai?" Tyson asked softly, almost a whisper. He felt his stomach do flips, and his palms began to sweat. Why was he so nervous? Did he really want to know the answer?

"Because you're pathetic." Kai grunted, with a snort.

"Ouch." Tyson said dryly, staring up at the branches of the old tree they were laying under.

"No… You just, I don't know… Remind of… Myself, kind of. When I was younger." Kai said softly. Tyson snapped his head to the left to look at the older teen. Kai was still peaceful, his expression otherwise completely unreadable.

"I don't see how that's possible, Kai. You're so cool and stuff. Everyone likes you; all the girls want to marry you. I'm nothing like you." Tyson said, sitting up and biting his bottom lip roughly, almost making it bleed.

"That's how I am now. I went through a lot of bullshit to get here. You don't want to be like me, kid. I don't want you to be like me, which is why I'm helping you." Kai said, Tyson looked at him intensely. Not only did Kai rarely talk, but when he did it was rarely of such sustenance.

"That doesn't make any sense…" Tyson noted, and then Kai sat up.

"Let's go." He said and got up. Tyson just watch him, his head spinning, before getting up and following Kai to the spot they'd been at before.

* * *

"Kai! Man! I can't believe they invited us to a party!" Tyson said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet and staring at a very serious looking Kai.

"Yeah. Woo. Can't believe it." Kai said sarcastically. "You want to go?" Kai asked, eyeing the overly excited teen warily.

"Do I want to? Of course I want to!" Tyson exclaimed with a big grin on his face.

"Fine then. Be at my place at 8." Kai said and walked away from the young teen. They'd been standing at the 'regular' after school spot, so Tyson was already on his way home. Max had texted him right before the end of school, saying not to bother looking for them after dismissal and to call him around 3:30, when Hilary would be busy with Model UN or something Tyson couldn't understand.

Tyson walked home, feeling giddy. He assumed this feeling of giddiness was the result of another prospect of getting laid. With Kai's master lessons, he was less likely to choke… He hoped.

However, the thought of Sandy wasn't doing anything for him. After lunch today, he concluded she was a nice girl, planning to go to university and major in Biology and all, and could make a very nice friend. _With benefits_, perhaps, he hoped.

* * *

"Maxie?" Tyson spoke into his cell phone at exactly 3:30.

"Hey Ty, what's up?" The blonde's voice chirped from the other end of the line.

"Oh, not much. Kai invited me to a party tonight." Tyson informed his friend reluctantly.

"Oh, really? Well, have a good time, bud." Max said happily, Tyson felt lucky to have such an awesome friend.

"Thanks man. So tell me, what is up with Hil?" He asked bluntly, laying down on his bed and staring at the ceiling.

"She's really mad at you. I've never seen her so mad before." Tyson could practically hear the cringe in Max's voice.

"Man, I don't know what her problem is. She and Kai had a thing and now I'm friends with him… I don't see the big deal." Tyson shook his head. He honestly didn't.

"It's a little more complicated than that, Ty." Max sighed from across the line. Tyson perked up immediately.

"Oh? Elaborate for me, Maxie?" Tyson asked, suddenly curious.

"Hilary didn't tell me everything, but apparently they became friends in math class during Hil's freshman year, he's like a year behind in math or something and was in Algebra 1 as a sophomore." Max said and paused.

"Go on." Tyson nodded, the story making sense.

"Well, she helped him with his math and they became like best friends, kind of, she said. She said Kai wasn't always cool and was kind of an outcast that year, so she was the only one he really talked to. Anyways, they started dating at some point." Max stopped again.

"And then?" Tyson asked, poking at the subject as gently as his curiosity could handle.

"Well, according to Hilary, Kai changed the summer before junior year. She didn't say much, other than that he moved out of his grandparents place and got an apartment, and suddenly didn't want to talk to her and stuff, so she broke up with him right before school began." Max finished. Tyson felt his thoughts swimming rapidly through his head. That made a lot more sense.

"Didn't you start dating Hilary like… right after that?" Tyson asked slowly, trying to piece together the time frame.

"Uh, kinda, we start dating about 3 months later, apparently." Max replied.

"Well, Max, that is very interesting! You know, Kai did say something about dealing with a lot of bullshit in his younger years today… Maybe he was referring to whatever things changed him? Or the break up?" Tyson asked out loud, more to himself than Max.

"Maybe, man. She also said Kai would never directly talk to her after that, thus the comment about when he last saw her…" Max trailed off, Tyson could imagine him popping his knuckles like he always did when anxious.

"Yeah, I see. Well, I should go. Talk to you later, man." Tyson chimed, happy with the new information.

"Yeah, see ya! Have fun at the party!" Max said and the two boys hung up.

Tyson finally had a story to work with here.

* * *

Kai and Tyson were currently jammed into Kai's small bedroom, going through his wardrobe and trying to find an acceptable outfit for the fashionably challenged Tyson to wear.

"Kai, I don't think this is really _me_." Tyson complained, pulling at the blue button-up shirt the older teen had thrown at him after walking in the door.

"It's blue. Your eyes are blue. It's fine." Kai rolled his eyes and continued nursing his cigarette.

"Oh Kai! You noticed my eye color!" Tyson pretended to swoon like the girls that followed Kai around, he clutched both hands together and did the best sparkly eyes he could muster.

"You're an idiot." Kai just shook his head and look disgruntled.

"It was a joke, Kai." Tyson deadpanned after seeing his joke wasn't nearly as funny as he thought it was.

"Whatever, loser." Kai stated simply, putting out his cigarette.

"Are you just wearing that, Kai?" Tyson asked, eyeing the other boy suspiciously. The older teen wore a pair of black jeans and a black shirt. He certainly wasn't going too wild with color.

"Yes." Kai drawled.

"I think you should wear this!" Tyson chirped, pulling out a deep red button-up shirt, similar to his own. It was a deep color, and it immediately reminded Tyson of Dranzer, the phoenix statue Kai had made. "Your eyes are a freaky red color and so is this." Tyson grinned, holding the shirt up to Kai who just raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?" Kai said, making no move to grab the shirt. Tyson scowled and unbuttoned the shirt himself, then walked behind Kai and threw it on his shoulders before retreating to look at his handy work.

"Ah! Gorgeous, darling!" Tyson said dramatically, smiling ear to ear.

"You're so gay sometimes." Kai scoffed with a small smirk.

Tyson however, cringed and felt his mood suddenly hit the floor… And then fall through it.

...

_tick, tock, tick, tock_

...

_tick, tock, tick, tock_

_..._

"Tyson?" Kai asked after a few minutes of Tyson staring wide-eyed at the floor. Kai had stuck his arms through the shirt, apparently going to wear it.

"Hm? What?" He snapped to attention, looking at Kai and smiling nervously.

"You OK?" Kai asked, looking more freaked out than concerned.

"Yeah, sorry… Don't know what got into me there." He tried to laugh but it sounded so forced that even Kai looked at him funny.

"Are you some kind of homophobe, kid?" Kai asked defensively. Tyson was learning, as time went on, that Kai only called him 'kid' when he was unhappy with him, or annoyed, or about to mentally shut out the world.

"No! No, most definitely not! I love gay people, really." Tyson said, nodding quickly and enthusiastically.

"Well, that's good." Kai said, still eyeing Tyson like he belonged in an insane asylum. "Because I have friends who are gay and if you freak out like that when you see them, I'm going to have to kill you." Kai deadpanned.

"Nope! No freaking out here! Nope!" Tyson said quickly, giving Kai two thumbs-up.

"Wonderful. Let's go wait for Tala." Kai turned and left the room. Tyson followed him loyally.

"Uh... Tala?" Tyson asked quietly.

"You got a problem with Tala too, now?" Kai asked a little too darkly for Tyson's comfort zone.

"No! He's just… scary." Tyson cringed and prepared himself for impact. Though, when he looked to Kai, the older boy just grinned wickedly.

"Tala is as harmless as a fruit fly. Trust me. And I think he likes you." Kai said simply, Tyson gulped at the word 'likes'.

"O-Ohh…" Tyson just nodded as Kai locked his apartment and the two walked down the concrete stairs and into the parking lot. "I'm glad you're wearing that shirt. It really is an awesome color on you." Tyson said, giving Kai a real smile.

Kai just looked at him for a moment, before softening his gaze and looking towards the ground, "Thanks, Ty." He said softly.

That nickname sounded _really _nice in Kai's voice.

Wait, _what the fuck_?

* * *

A/N: TWO CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY? HAVE I LOST MY MIND? (…No…. Just my social life…) I'm quite happy with the ending of this chapter. The rest of it? Reads like shit. But I can't think of any way to change it to my liking, as I've been playing with this chappie for a few hours. I apologize if it reads really choppy. Oh, and the girl mentioned in the beginning is, in fact, Ms. Mariah. YAY. Reviews for this overworked authoress who is in love with you?

Chapter 5 and 6 love-varmint responses:

**Kiray Himawari**: Haha, yes, Kai is an artist. He's just soulful like that. And now you've gotten a few bigger puzzle pieces to work with as far as Kai/Hilary and their enigma of a past. Thanks SO MUCH for the reviews… They keep me going!

**Shiona Acitiu:** We'll all find out eventually if Kai likes Tyson… Your guess is as good as mine, for now!

**Inside The Box:** INTERNETZ MARRIAGES FTW. Legality is just a minor detail. OMG I love your reviews. They make me smile and lol so hard, my cheeks get tired…. So was this ASAP enough for you, hmm? A few hours? You know I love ya. Oh, and your question pertaining Kai's odd popularity; to me, Kai is popular because people like him and want to be with them, he does not choose to like them or hang out with them often. He leads by example, you could say. He's a natural born loner who is great at getting laid… And he's sexy enough that the girls dig him, so the guys wanna be him. I can't delve too deep into Kai's friendship problems yet, because deary, IT'S COMING!.. Oh, and I can't tell how mad you are at me about the Kai/Hil thing… Do we need premarital counseling? Already? ;) Oh, and… SURPRISE! 4 chapters in 3 days! :D

**Inyoface:** Oh yes, bow down to THAT fast update… Haha, jk, thank you *Squee*! I feel like you totally understand where I'm coming from with my odd fiction and drug references. Inyoface & Emziie = Soul mates? Maybe haha… And I, too, wonder if Kai fancies Ty :[

**Tempest-storm:** NO DEATH!... Then you couldn't continue reading, eh? Thank you for the review and kind words. I appreciate it so much :)!


	8. Chapter 8

The Ladies Man- Chapter 8

A/N: I am a terrible authoress for ignoring this story for months T.T! I'm sorry, here's a short update written in the middle of the night by a guilt-stricken Emziie.

* * *

"Tyson, you look smashing tonight." Tala said, looking Tyson up and down briefly as the two stood in the trashed kitchen getting soda.

Tyson gulped. And then gulped again.

"Uhm... That's very nice of you Tala." Tyson said awkwardly, avoiding eye contact as much as humanly possible. The icy-eyed teen was given Tyson-sitting duties as Kai went to attend to his manly duties with Alexa… That alone made Tyson feel uneasy.

"So how did you become friends with Kai?" Tala asked, as he walked out of the kitchen, assuming that the younger teen would follow obediently. Tyson, of course, did.

"School." Tyson said simply, keeping his eyes trained on the stained beige carpet.

"School, really? Kai doesn't usually talk about school…" Tala said, Tyson noticed him shrug. The red-head flopped down onto a couch in the living room, gesturing for Tyson to do the same.

"Kai doesn't usually talk much in general…" Tyson murmured.

"That, my friend, is a very true statement!" Tala laughed, crossing his white-jean clad legs and sipping the mostly-soda-but-with-a-hint-of-rum contained in the red cup he held.

Ahh, clichés!

Tyson forced a chuckle, feeling particularly uncomfortable being only a few inches from the big, scary Tala.

"When did you meet Kai?" Tyson asked suddenly, looking up at the Russian with wide eyes.

Tala paused, studying the younger boy for a few moments before responding, "Boarding school when we were much younger." Tala said, forcing a steady eye contact onto Tyson, who just nodded.

"That's cool." Tyson said quietly, almost too softly to hear over the booming bass. This party was a lot smaller than the first Tyson had been to, but there were still a lot of people, and Tyson knew none of them.

"Mhm. He's taken a real liking to you, Tyson." Tala said, gulping his drink crudely.

"He's really awesome." Tyson nodded, pressing his lips together insecurely.

"Oh?" Tala asked, before throwing the empty cup onto the ground rudely. "Speak of the devil, and instead you'll get an equally notorious but much more cynical Hiwatari." Tala said with a sly smile, as Kai approached the small couch.

"Stop scaring my protégé." Kai said, shoving Tala over to sit between the two, squeezing a bit on the small couch.

Tyson could feel his palms begin to sweat.

"How was Alexa?" Tala asked, his voice clear and mischievous.

"Fucking awesome." Kai said dryly, but seriously.

Tyson could feel his stomach churn at Kai's statement.

"You've been wanting to hit that for awhile…" Tala said, leaning back casually.

"And now I have." Kai rolled his eyes, then grabbed Tyson's soda from his hand and took a swig. "I need something a little stronger than this. C'mon, Ty." Kai said, standing up and briskly walking away.

Tyson nodded to Tala and followed his teacher loyally, feeling more anxious as the minutes ticked by.

* * *

"Alright, Ty, look at me." Kai said, staring the shorter teen down intensely. Tyson just gulped and nodded.

"Yes?" He squeaked.

"You can do this. You _will_ do this." Kai said, placing each of his hands onto Tyson's corresponding shoulders. Tyson nodded determinedly and gave Kai the bravest glare he could muster.

"I'm gonna get laid." Tyson said and cracked a grin.

"That's the spirit. Now get out there before I decide to have you wax my car." Kai released Tyson and shoved him towards a group of girls.

"Kai… You don't have a car…" Tyson said, looking back at Kai confusedly.

"Fucking idiot, just go get some." Kai said with a shake of his head. "I'll be with Alexa for at least another 2 hours, so make it last." Kai finished and walked off. Tyson just nodded to himself and took a deep breath.

He began walking towards the group, looking at cool and confident as he could. His nerves, however, disagreed with this situation completely. He was terrified.

"Hello ladies." Tyson said at an awkwardly loud volume, and then cursed himself mentally as they all looked at him like he was a little retarded.

"Hi." One of the girls said, and Tyson looked at her. She was pretty, a strawberry blonde with a thin frame and lots of mascara. Sandy, the girl who he'd sat with a lunch with Kai, was also there and gave him a small smile and wave.

"Hey Tyson! Glad you could make it." Sandy said sweetly, her eyelashes fluttering at him. He could feel a drip of sweat cascade down his forehead and wiped it spastically, all the girls looked a little freaked.

"Yeah, thanks for inviting me, Sandy." Tyson said, his tone a lot softer but equally weird.

"A friend of Kai and Tala's is a friend of mine." Sandy said, she was really a nice girl. "Would you like a tour, Tyson?" Sandy asked, cocking her head to the right dramatically and narrowing her made-up eyes.

"That'd be great." Tyson said, looking at the ground as Sandy stood up and grabbed his arm.

He had to stop himself from cringing as he felt her chest touch his triceps briefly. This was scarier than walking around a graveyard at midnight on Halloween.

Sandy took him immediately towards the bedrooms, and Tyson suddenly felt his heels begin to metaphorically stick into the ground as they neared. He really didn't want to do this. Really didn't!

He didn't want to get laid anymore!

Tyson didn't, however, say anything at all. Perhaps he should have, because Sandy suddenly pulled him into her room and closed the door.

This didn't look good.

Sandy turned the light off, which made Tyson jump like a rabbit that'd just been seen by a fox. However, when Sandy's soft hands touched his chest lightly he took a quick step back. Sandy, despite her sweet nature, followed and soon wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him.

_Gulp._

Tyson had a thought though, that maybe he could make himself do this. These nerves were just initial and normal and he'd be totally into this once they got going. And so he decided to roll with it.

The shorter girl kissed his neck sweetly, scraping her teeth expertly against the sensitive area. Tyson shivered at the sensation, and Sandy worked her way up to his jaw, and then to the side of his mouth. She very delicately pressed a kiss to his lips, and stroked the back of his neck with her manicured hands. Tyson tried to respond to the kiss, but it was awkward and it felt so… wrong. Disgusting. _Unnatural_.

The minute sweet Sandy slipped her tongue into his mouth, though, Tyson flew backwards a few steps and panted heavily with anxiety and lack of oxygen.

"Tyson, baby, you alright?" Sandy asked into the dark.

"I think… I think I have to go." Tyson said into the darkness.

"Ty-baby, I know you're inexperienced and nervous but its ok, I won't judge you." Sandy said, and Tyson heard her come closer. The nickname she gave him made him feel sick.

"I really don't think that's the problem." Tyson said unconsciously, and then choked on his own saliva when he realized what he'd said.

"Are you saying I'm not good enough for you?" Sandy asked, flipping the light on and washing the room with a fake yellow glow. Tyson cringed at the sudden brightness.

"It's not…" Tyson started, but thought of Kai's three principles that could apply to any situation. This was, in Tyson's opinion, a time for the '_no cuddling'_ principle, and so he would not be nice to Sandy, as she had been to him. "Yeah, Candy, I'm sorry but I'm just not into fat girls." Tyson forced out and briskly walked out of the room before he had to see her hurt face. He knew her name was Sandy and not Candy, and there was nothing fat about her at all.

If Tyson could have hidden under a rock for the remainder of his life, he would have.

He walked out of the party, out of the front door, and walked until he found a spot to sit on the curb a few houses down.

Alone with his thoughts, Tyson felt an immeasurable amount of guilt well-up in his chest. God, he was a terrible person. Just terrible.

He was so afraid to face the fact that he wasn't attracted to a perfectly nice, pretty girl that he instead insulted her and left her upset.

Scum. He was scum.

Why wasn't he attracted to Sandy though? Or Amber, at the first party? Or… Any girl, recently? It was utterly confusing for him, maybe there was something wrong with him after all… I mean, who was he attracted to?

Well, he thought cigarettes were kind of sexy… Blue hair kind of did it for him… Crimson eyes were super killer… He really liked muscular arms… A little mystery really seemed to make him feel light headed…

Wait a second. Wait a damn second.

There was only one person in the world that fit Tyson's description of sexy… Very possibly, he silently admitted to himself, the one person who _formed_ it.

Tyson's attracted to Kai. Kai, who was definitely not a girl, and definitely not into guys…

Fuck.

"Tyson, there you are." A familiar, smooth voice sounded from behind him. Tyson was so lost in his thoughts he startled at the intrusion.

"Tala?" Tyson asked warily, eyeing the very tall teen suspiciously before slumping down again on the curb.

"The one and only." The Russian said, sitting down next to Tyson softly.

Tala didn't say anything for a long time, something Tyson was thankful for, as he was still meticulously picking through his thoughts. He felt so many emotions that it left him numb.

"Tyson, you really insulted Sandy." Tala said quietly, looking at the younger teen who sat lost in his thoughts.

"I've never felt so guilty in my life." Tyson said monotone, looking up at Tala with pathetic eyes. Tala softened and threw an arm around Tyson's shoulders in a friendly fashion, and surprisingly the contact made Tyson feel a bit better.

"It's alright, bud, we all have our low points." Tala said, patting Tyson's back briefly. "However, what was the problem?" Tala asked seriously, almost directly into Tyson's ear. Tyson could smell the rum on his breath, though he didn't drink much, and it made the younger feel uneasy.

"I just… I… I don't…" Tyson couldn't say it. Not to Tala. Not to Tala who he basically just met and Kai warned him about.

"Tyson, I'm bisexual." Tala said bluntly and Tyson blinked a few times.

And blinked a few more.

"What?" Tyson suddenly became animated, pulling away from the older boy dramatically and looking at him like he'd told Tyson he was King Kong.

"So, if there's something you'd like to talk about, I'm here for you." Tala said seriously, not offended by the reaction but more amused, an evil glint in his eye.

"That was… A really bizarre time to tell me that!" Tyson said, his voice a little shrill and his previously mixed emotions and thoughts settled, albeit briefly.

"I've been getting _vibes_ from you." Tala said bluntly.

"I don't like you like that." Tyson said wide-eyed, staring at the older without blinking for an extended period of time.

"I meant I've been getting gay vibes from you." Tala clarified, Tyson look appalled.

"Your _vibes_ are incorrect. No vibes from me! None here! I'm Tyson, _the vibe-less_!" Tyson rambled, his brows knit together as he frantically babbled at the Russian.

"Tyson, c'mon. You can be honest with me, I'm a friend." Tala said, nodding. "I won't tell anything to Kai that you haven't given me explicit instructions to." Tala finished, and Tyson relaxed.

"I'm not gay…" Tyson said insecurely, settling down next to his new older friend.

"What's your number? I'll text you mine, and then if you need to talk or something, you'll have it." Tala said and Tyson reluctantly obliged. The two boys ended up chatting about random things for another half an hour, which was when an irate Kai called Tala and asked where the fuck he and Tyson were.

"Well, Kai is looking for us. Let's head back, alright?" Tala said with a small grin, getting up and offering a hand to Tyson. Tyson took it, and let the Russian help him to his feet.

As awkward and horrible as the night had been, perhaps things weren't so bad after all?

* * *

A/N: Wow, long time no update… ahaha…. I suck. I feel like Tyson did when he insulted Sandy. SCUM! SCUMMMM! This chapter was almost all plot, really getting somewhere now. Anywho, please review and tell me you still love me T.T so that I don't feel like a total loser haha. I love my new plot twist here, I think ya'll will like where it leads too ;) I got some ends to tie up with Hilary and Kai first though! Wow, I forgot how much I loooove this story… And my reviewers…

Review for me, critters! I'll update tomorrow too, I hope. If not, by the weekend. I'd like to finish this story up within a month or so… Ahhh, yay!


	9. Chapter 9

The Ladies Man- Chapter 9

A/N: Not proof-read. Not edited. I did bother to spell check! :D

* * *

Kai was pissed when Sandy burst into Alexa's room in tears, just as him and the brunette were ready for round two. He was even more pissed when he found out Tyson had been the root of this disturbance. And the cherry on the cake? Both he and Tala were missing when Kai stomped out to the front of the house.

All of this was what Kai explained, with well chosen words, once Tala and himself got back to the party. The drive home was relatively silent, aside from Kai's huffing and looking out the window.

That is except for when Tala glanced at Tyson in the rearview mirror, gestured to Kai with his head, rolled his eyes, and mouthed "women" sarcastically, which made Tyson laugh… Silently, of course.

Tyson did make it home safely though, and fell asleep instantly upon hitting the bed.

He woke to his phone ringing loudly, his obnoxious ringtone cutting through his pleasant dreamless sleep like a boning knife.

Tyson slapped the phone somewhat violently, and despite the assault, the phone continued to ring. Tyson flipped the electronic open, mumbling something along the lines of "hello".

"Tyson! Are you _still_ asleep?" Max's cheerful voice sounded from the other end of the line.

"Max… Maxie? Hey bud…" Tyson sat up slowly with a yawn, regretting sleeping in jeans.

"What's up man? How was the party?" Max asked good-naturedly.

"Oh…" Tyson paused, the haze of sleep wearing off instantly and memories came flooding back, "It was… Interesting." Tyson said reluctantly.

"Oh? How so?" Max asked quickly, genuinely curious.

"Uhhh, just was! Haha!" Tyson laughed fakely for his friend, "How's Hil?" Tyson asked, though he already knew she'd be especially pissed at him.

"She's good… Still really mad…" Max said with a sigh, "I don't know why you have to hang out with Kai so much to 'get laid'. I mean, wouldn't it just be easier to find a girl, date her, fall in love, and then do it? I don't see the rush." Max said, his innocence apparent but undeniably charming.

"Maxie, have you ever kissed a girl, made out with her, and…" Tyson bit his lip insecurely, "Then not wanted to do it?"

"Uhh… No. Hilary's my first girlfriend, you know that." Max said awkwardly, Tyson felt bad for making him feel like he had less experience.

"Yeah. Right. Well, never mind." Tyson said. "I should go, dude, Gramps is making me train extra hard today because I've been spending so much time avoiding my chores. See ya!" Tyson said and hung up, flopping back down onto his bed with a sigh. His phone buzzed shortly after, indicating a text message.

He flipped it open. He had one new message, and it was from Tala, Tyson raised an eyebrow and yawned again, opening the message.

'Hey Tyson! Wanna hang out today?' it read and Tyson narrowed his eyes at the digital words… Why would Tala want to hang out suddenly? Well, there was only one way to find out.

'Yeah, dude, when and where?' He typed, sent, and closed the phone. It buzzed a few seconds later.

'I can pick you up in 30 minutes?'

'Ok.' Tyson replied and rolled out of his bed and headed for a shower.

* * *

"So, what you're saying is you think that Ming Ming's hair isn't really turquoise?" Tyson laughed, looking at his friend with an amused grin.

"I'm saying that color just doesn't come naturally." Tala replied, punching his younger friend in the shoulder.

"Well, it's unlikely, but look at Kai's hair. Also a weird color. And either way, there's no way to prove it." Tyson said.

"Well, you could see if the carpet matches the drapes." Tala replied.

"Hah! I doubt Ming Ming would ever sleep with either of us. I bet Kai could do it, though." Tyson said back, grinning at the mention of his teacher.

"I bet Kai could too. Then again, Kai wouldn't tell us just to keep us guessing." Tala laughed.

"That's very true." Tyson replied. The two teens were sitting on a bench in a park in the middle of the city. It wasn't a big park, but it had lots of children and adults alike. It was a sunny day, though not too warm, and the pair had been chatting and wandering aimlessly for a few hours.

A comfortable silence passed between the two, who both watched the people passively. It had been fun, and Tyson really liked Tala. He was a cool guy. In some ways, he was a bit like Kai, and in others he was the complete opposite.

No matter what though, Tyson's thoughts always ended up including Kai. He had to bite his tongue from mentioning Kai constantly, as it felt natural to talk about the older teen. Tyson was as confused as he was blissfully ignorant. It was becoming more apparent every time Kai's name slipped from his mouth unintentionally, something Tala didn't forget to take note of.

"Tala, how did you know you were bisexual?" Tyson blurted out all of a sudden, mentally smacking himself once he realized what he'd said… And how boorish it had sounded coming from him. Tala was quiet for a long moment.

"I knew you were gonna ask about that." Tala said, his voice tight with a grin, "Well, I've always liked girls. I had a few girlfriends in high school, nothing serious, but always really enjoyed them. But then, occasionally, I began to notice guys too."

"Notice?" Tyson asked, his brows furrowed as he stared at the ground intently.

"The same way I'd look at girls, I looked at some guys. It wasn't too long after that I made out with a friend of mine and that was that. I knew I was bisexual. Not a huge deal, there was no parade after, but no one really seemed to care anyways so it was fine." Tala explained with a shrug, Tyson looked at him with innocent eyes, appreciating the fact that Tala would be honest with him.

"I see." Tyson replied simply, gulping loudly and breathing even louder.

"Well, I got work in an hour so I better get you home, kid." Tala said, standing up and stretching his arms above his head.

"Yeah, ok." Tyson said and mimicked his older friend.

He was confused, that was for sure, but at least he wasn't alone. And, since Tala and Kai were such good friends, perhaps Kai wouldn't mind if Tyson were gay or bisexual or whatever?

* * *

Monday mornings were the bane of Tyson's existence. This Monday morning especially, since all his friends were pissed at him… Quite possibly including Kai. Then again, Tala had said Kai wouldn't be mad for long (Considering the fact that the boy could get laid whenever he wanted and "one cock block won't kill him, and he knows it!", according to Tala). Still, Tyson had to drag himself all the way to school.

He walked into the cafeteria feeling glum, saw his friends at their normal table, and began walking towards it. They left a seat for him today, maybe that was a good sign?

Tyson flopped down into the open seat, which was on the end and next to Max, across from Kenny. The group stopped talking and looked at him like he was supposed to say something.

"Hey guys?" Tyson asked with a grin.

"Hey Tyson!" Max said with a hearty grin. The rest of the group began to chat, without really greeting him. Tyson was OK with that, he was being let back into the circle and he was glad for it.

He sat quietly, knowing he would say something stupid and would piss Hilary off again, until he spotted Kai walk into the cafeteria and look around briefly. Kai's gaze settled on Tyson and the younger saw Kai's lips curl up just slightly into a smirk.

Oh shit.

Tyson felt his nerves flare when Kai sauntered over to the table. Apparently Hilary also noticed the senior walking towards them and gave Tyson the most heated glare he'd ever received.

"Hello, Tyson." Kai purred, approaching the table from the side opposite of Tyson.

"H-hey, Kai." Tyson said, admiring the black wife beater Kai wore and the small bulges of muscle under it.

"My dear friend Sandy wants to talk to you." Kai said politely. Tyson sucked in a breath too quickly and ended up choking on his own saliva, causing Max to hit him on the back a few times.

"…Ok." Tyson said reluctantly, getting up from the table and chewing on his lower lip incessantly as he very slowly followed Kai out of the cafeteria, but not before waving to Max pathetically.

"So you think Sandy is fat?" Kai asked, slowing his walk so Tyson could catch up. The two were walking down an almost deserted hall.

"No… I just choked." Tyson said, looking up at Kai and studying his attractive features. Kai really was stunning… At least to Tyson, then again, all the girls thought so too.

"Well, it's alright." Kai mumbled, his walking speed unconsciously speeding up.

"Really?" Tyson asked excitedly, smiling at Kai as he tried to keep pace with the taller teen.

Kai replied with a shrug.

"I'm still sorry for… Uhh… cock blocking you." Tyson said, the words feeling awkward coming from his mouth. Tala sure said it better.

Kai stopped walking immediately and closed his eyes, bringing a hand to his temple and rubbing as it Tyson gave him some sort of migraine… Perhaps that was the wrong thing to say?

"You've talked to Tala." Kai stated simply.

"Well, yes." Tyson admitted, staring at Kai who just looked up to glare at him.

"Just… Never say that again, ok?" Kai asked, though it really wasn't a question.

"Sure Kai, of course. Never again." Tyson said with a frantic nod. "So are we going to see Sandy?" Tyson asked, tilting his head to the left unconsciously.

"No. That was an excuse." Kai said, his voice deep and husky.

"An excuse for what?" Tyson wondered aloud.

"To get you away from those imbeciles, of course." Kai replied with a smirk. "Now get to class." Kai said and turned and walked away briskly. Tyson then realized he was going to be late… quite late, for his first class.

* * *

Lunch rolled around quickly enough, and Tyson sat with his old friends, who finally chatted casually with him. Kai was nowhere to be seen, however Tyson's brain couldn't stop thinking about the older teen… And about how badly he wished he could see him.

Tyson thought endlessly about how insane it was that one day he looked up to Kai because he thought he was cool, and now he looked up to Kai because he liked him.

Tyson _liked_ him.

* * *

Tyson's phone buzzed in the middle of math, his last class of the day. Even though he_, technically_, wasn't supposed to have the device in class, he answered it anyways. Tyson was never one for technicalities anyways. It was a text message, from Tala of all people.

'Hey! Wanna hang out later?' It read, and Tyson thought for a second…

'Yeah, sure!' Tyson replied and pressed the send button. He'd have to tell Gramps he was skipping drills today, which the old man would surely gripe about, but this seemed like a lot less work.

The phone buzzed again.

'Alright, I'll pick you up at like 5.' It read.

'Ok. See you then.' Tyson replied and sent. The bell for the end of class rang at just the right moment and Tyson closed the phone and shoved it in his pocket. He picked up his things and rushed out of the classroom, conveniently forgetting his homework.

He walked out of the building and saw Max and Hilary waiting up for him, which made him smile. His two best friends really couldn't be mad at him for long… However, Hilary still didn't look happy.

"Hey Max! Hey Hil!" Tyson said and gave each of them a bear hug.

"Hey Tyson… How was school?" Max asked, an arm around his girlfriend.

"You mean since lunch? Haha, it was good. Nothing interesting. How about you? And Hil?" Tyson asked, looking at his two friends curiously.

"Nothing new." Hilary said, Max just nodded. "We should be going though, got lots of studying to do." Hilary said and gave Tyson a small grin before her and her boyfriend walked away with a wave.

Tyson smiled. He was glad to have his friends back.

He walked towards home, and his heart raced as he turned the corner towards Kai's spot. And, like clockwork, the older teen was there, cigarette pressed between his lips.

Tyson approached Kai with a grin. The older teen just glared at him, not an unusual greeting.

"Hey Kai!" Tyson said, he felt his chest flutter as the older teen looked at him steadily for a few seconds before taking a drag of his cigarette and letting the smoke roll out of his mouth lazily.

Things sure changed quickly, because suddenly Tyson was frozen as he looked up at the taller male's face.

"Hello Tyson." Kai said with a smirk, "Come to bother me yet again, have you?" Kai asked in the most playful voice Kai Hiwatari was capable of. Tyson just nodded, too shaken and nervous to respond otherwise. Everything changed for him, but things were no different to Kai… It was disappointing, on some level, because Tyson had had one of the biggest revelations of his life, which very well included Kai, but the other was oblivious. Then again, Tyson would die if Kai knew. Well, unless Kai killed him first.

"Well, do you want to come over and do my math homework again?" Kai asked smoothly, watching Tyson with a calculated stare.

"Yeah, sure." Tyson said softly, not meeting Kai's crimson eyes. The older took off at a brisk walk, which Tyson hurried to catch up with. Tyson grabbed his phone and called the dojo, telling Gramps he wouldn't be home until later.

"T-dog, don't forget your roots, homie! See you on the flip side, dude." Gramps said.

* * *

A/N: I'm totally not happy with this chapter, but I promised you more! Well, this story is so funny because it takes my head all over the place. I have so many directions I want to go that sometimes I can't bring myself to choose one… I mean, Tala was initially going to be a very minor character, but now I've decided I want him to be very involved. Oh, and yes, he is very OOC and I know it… Eh, what I'm playing up here is the fact that I think Tala is a very noble character and really a gentleman, perhaps very loyal as well. When writing fan fiction (As I'm sure you all know) you kind of have to play-up character traits and I'm just being very selective with Tala's :P

6 reviews in less than 12 hours? You guys honor me. I write for you, my loves

Poppies in July: Thank you for the review, I'm glad you like the twist! It wasn't in the original plan but… I like the way Tala is working into the story.

Tempest-storm: No, thank YOU for the review. It means a lot, after all these months. I'll keep going so you will have to wonder no more!

Kiray Himawari: I like Tala lots too. It'll have to be a surprise for what he does next… But, it shouldn't be too shocking.

Map (Formerly Box): I LOVE YOU TOO. I MISSED YOU. Your reviews make my life. Seriously. They're so long and rambley and adorable. Your theories interest me :P We'll just have to wait and see what happens next, no? AND YOU CAN PM ME ANYTIME! I get lazy sometimes. I got spurred to continue by an anonymous review I got on 8/22… So get my lazy ass in gear anytime you want! *e-glomp* Oh, and that was a Karate Kid reference. Because I'm sooo cool hahaha xD

1chucha2: I'll continue to update, no worries!


	10. Chapter 10

The Ladies Man- Chapter Ten

A/N: No proof-reading… again…. Just spell check! YEAH!

* * *

"Aren't we going to do math homework?" Tyson asked carefully, studying his older friend who was currently chugging a glass of orange juice. The two had been sitting around for an hour playing video games, something Tyson didn't guess Kai would be into. Apparently he was, and apparently he was very good at the said games.

"Fuck math. I changed my mind." Kai said, setting his cup down loudly and licking his lower lip.

Tyson blushed, noticing the small gesture. It was so different being around the upperclassman now that he'd admitted to himself that he kinda… sorta… most likely… 'liked him'.

"Ok, then." Tyson said with a shrug, lounging back onto the blue couch in Kai's living room.

Tyson's phone vibrated against his leg and the young teen reached into his pocket to fetch it.

It was a text message from Tala asking if he still wanted to chill and if he liked arcades. Tyson grinned, he loved _arcades_. The question was; could Tala keep up? That made Tyson grin to himself more as he answered yes to both of Tala's questions.

Tyson flipped his phone shut and shoved it in his pocket. He then glanced up at Kai, who was giving him a calculated glare.

"What?" Tyson asked, genuinely innocent.

"So you have a girlfriend now?" The older boy asked, his tone a lot darker than previously.

"Uhh, no? It was Tala." Tyson said, furrowing his eyebrows at the odd change in his friends' behavior.

Kai raised an eyebrow, though his general expression didn't change.

"You're friends with Tala now?" Kai asked slowly, his words carefully chosen.

"Well, yes. He's really nice and cool and stuff…" Tyson said, looking away briefly before resuming eye contact with Kai.

"Nice and cool and… stuff?" Kai repeated Tyson's words, his voice dripping with a nastier tone.

"Is that… an issue?" Tyson asked, seriously not understanding where Kai was coming from. I mean, Kai was friends with Tala! Therefore, he must think he's cool too.

"No." Kai replied, looking at the counter for a few seconds before sauntering over to the couch and sitting down next to Tyson, who tensed visibly. "What're you texting about then?" Kai asked, studying the carpet.

"We're going to the arcade later." Tyson replied obediently.

"You didn't invite me." Kai said, narrowing his eyes while continuing his visual assault of the carpet.

"Well, I'm sure you could come with, Kai!" Tyson said, forcing himself to smile but noticing the obvious tension in the room, though not understanding it.

"Oh?" Kai asked, looking up to meet Tyson's eyes. Tyson froze at the intensity of the stare, locked in the crimson eyes that he found so supremely attractive. Tyson just nodded.

"I'm going with." Kai said bluntly, breaking the gaze that had mesmerized his younger companion.

"That's great!" Tyson said with a smile.

"Is it? Because I don't have to go. I'm only going because I don't want to do any homework and there's nothing worth-while to do here." Kai replied as coldly as he could.

"Oh, so it's worthwhile to hang out with friends, now, is it?" Tyson asked playfully, poking Kai in the shoulder. The taller teen gave him a look like before, making Tyson's stomach flip. However then, slowly, Kai let his features break into a slow smile.

"Recently, yes." Kai said, eyeing Tyson with his gorgeous red eyes. He then got off the couch and headed to the kitchen.

Tyson nearly fainted.

* * *

5o'clock rolled around quickly. Kai had come back to the couch with a bowl of chips and 2 cokes and the two watched TV until Tala picked them up (Tyson made sure to inform Tala he was at Kai's apartment and that Kai was coming with. Tala didn't seem to mind either way). As it turned out, Kai was particularly good at the arcade games… However he didn't take losing so well. Every time Tyson or Tala beat the older teen, Kai would insist a rematch, and if they won again, he would sulk off to another game, assuming correctly that his friends would follow. It was a few hours later that Tyson realized he better get back to the dojo before Gramps had his head.

Tala drove him and Kai home at around 7:30, enough time for Tyson to do the little homework he felt like.

Tyson was almost dizzy with his crush and all his thoughts surrounding it by the time he went to bed… His dreams were quickly infested with thoughts of his mentor, and he slept soundly.

* * *

"Tyson, you're always so distracted!" Hilary barked from across the table at her friend who was staring aimlessly at the cheap fake-wood table.

"Sorry, Hil." Tyson mumbled, sighing heavily.

"Yeah, Tyson, what's on your mind? I don't remember you being so quiet before I left for China!" Kenny said, looking over at the blue-haired teen.

"Eh, nothing." Tyson replied casually. He didn't really want to talk about it.

"Okay." Hilary said with a shrug and began talking to Max about how her Model UN meeting was and who she was annoyed with.

"Hey Ty, let's go." A gruff voice came from about Tyson's view of the table, he looked up to see his dear friend, and recent crush, Kai.

"Tyson!" Hilary asked, looking absolutely flustered. Tyson gave her a questioning look, "You're just going to leave like that?" Hilary asked, quite obviously offended.

"Well, yeah." Tyson said, glancing to Kai who had his hands shoved in his pockets, a black backpack slung over one shoulder casually.

"He has people of a higher quality to hang out with." Kai said, almost monotone, and looked blankly at his ex.

"It's not that—" Tyson began.

"Get moving, we have shit to attend to." Kai said, cutting off his younger friend somewhat rudely. Tyson went along with him, but once they were out of earshot of the group he stopped and gave Kai an angry look.

"You really should be nicer to them." Tyson said simply, Kai just shrugged.

"Yeah? I don't think so." Kai replied sharply and Tyson was taken aback for a second.

"Kai, I don't get why you have to be so… on the attack, around them. I mean, they're my friends, and you're my friend. Why can't we all just get along?" Tyson asked, cringing slightly at how cliché he sounded.

There was a pause in the conversation, the hallway they stood in had emptied as class had started a few minutes before and the silence was suffocating to Tyson.

"Why can't we get along? Why don't you ask that stupid bitch why we can't just get along." Kai hissed, giving Tyson the most realistic death-glare he'd ever seen. "If you have a problem with me, kid, you can just fucking leave because I don't give a shit." Kai said, giving Tyson one last second of glare before stalking off down the hall and around the corner.

Tyson stood by himself, speechless, for a few seconds before processing what just happened. Was Kai mental or something? Sadistic? What the hell happened between him and Hilary?

Yet, the only burning question Tyson had was when he'd get to see the older teen again.

* * *

'You're in some deep shit.' Was all Tala's text said. Tyson stared at his phone blankly, rereading the words as if that would somehow change them.

'Oh?' Tyson typed back quickly, hoping Tala would elaborate. He waited a few minutes until his phone vibrated in his pocket again.

'Kai has a soft spot, and you hit it with a sledgehammer.' Tala's next text said. Tyson was confused.

'Uhh?' Was what he typed.

'So articulate! I'll pick you up at 4 and we'll chat.' Tala's next text said and Tyson nodded. It was 3, currently, and he was sitting in his room at the dojo sulking.

'Okay! See you then!' Tyson replied and set the phone down, feeling lost. It was just the day before that he and Kai were on really good terms, and now the friendship seemed to have taken a turn he didn't expect.

Kai was such a mystery, a mystery wrought with layer upon frustrating layer of complex issues. Tyson had nowhere to begin with such an enigma, but could such a beautiful thing like Kai ever really be unraveled? Did someone, somewhere, actually_ know_ Kai Hiwatari? Was it possible to know what made the attractive teen tick, someone who knew what went through the mind of a young man who was so seemingly cold and unattainable? Kai was unattainable… At least in the way Tyson really wanted. Sure, he and Kai were friends, but Kai knew so much more about Tyson than the younger knew of him. It was like chasing a rainbow as a child, you become so charmed by its colors and allure that you don't think about the fact that you can't catch it. Perhaps this was what was standing in Tyson's way… Maybe Kai was uncatchable like a rainbow, perhaps he was the pot of gold that was to never be found.

No. Tyson didn't think so. Kai was just a person, like himself, who'd lived his life like any other. However, it turned him into someone he couldn't understand easily… but he wanted to. He wanted to be the one who _knew_ Kai, and the one who peeled the layers back until all that remained was the blunt and insufferable truth.

He had to, though. Kai was worth it.

"Yo, T-Dog! Your homie with the fly flamin' hair is at the door, so get yer butt out here!" Gramps voice echoed through the house. Time sure flew when thinking about Kai…

"Okay!" Tyson yelled and got off his bed, slipped his shoes on, and ran to meet Tala who was engaged in a conversation with Gramps. Tyson cringed upon seeing that.

"Well, Mr. Kinomiya, we better get going. It was nice to meet you." Tala said with a smirk.

"You too, dog, groovy cats like yourself are welcome anytime, ya dig?" Gramps said and Tyson stalked out of the dojo quickly, while his friend followed.

"Your grandfather is so fly, Tyson." Tala said playfully, opening his car door and unlocking the passenger side for Tyson.

"Shut up." Tyson mumbled, not really meaning the harsh words. He got into Tala's little beat up car and the two drove off, stopping at the park where they first hung out.

"Tala, why am I in deep shit?" Tyson asked his older friend as the two approached a bench and sat down.

"Because, my dear friend, Kai is a lot more sensitive than he lets on." Tala said simply, slouching down on the bench and relaxing. Tyson just stared off at the almost vacant public park.

"Sensitive to what? What did I do?" Tyson asked, honestly.

"Well, from my observations, Kai is still really upset with ole' Hilary. And, when you said he should be nice to her, he took that as you somehow questioning the validity of his issues with Hilary and the breakup." Tala said, nodding. Tyson looked at the older in awe, how could Tala just _know_ all this?

"He told you that?" Tyson asked loudly, getting a look from a passing stranger.

"No, oh God no, he told me you were a fucking idiot for being friends with them in the first place, and that you had the audacity to accuse him of being mean to your friends… Well, in not so many words, but that was the gist of it." Tala explained calmly as Tyson just stared at him blankly.

"Why is this so complicated? I mean, we're guys! Guys aren't complicated! _Girls_ are obnoxious because they're complicated!" Tyson exclaimed somewhat frantically, Tala set a reassuring hand on his flailing shoulder.

"Now, Tyson, let's be honest here…" Tala paused and Tyson watched him curiously, "Anytime you have a crush, it's complicated, and the fact that it's Kai makes it much worse."

Tyson froze once the words processed.

Tala _knew?_

* * *

A/N: Tala knows everything, duh… Wow, went WAY overboard with the philosophizing about Kai in Tysons mind… Oh well. And that's all she wrote! For tonight, any who. Sorry for the slow updates, I forgot how busy I am. I work on a farm and by the time I drag my ass to bed every night (Around 10:30) I'm too tired to write. But it's my night off! So instead of partying or seeing my friends, I'm giving you this short, but packed with plot, chapter. :) I love you all dearly, critters! Oh, I'm looking for a beta too, so if you know anyone… Or are interested, please PM me! I'm trying to improve the overall quality of my writing, so yeh.

A few quick responses:

Map: I love you. So much. Your reviews make me want to write until my fingers fall off… Or my brain fries. YOU ARE THE AWESOME…please keep the super long and awesome reviews coming :)! And no, Hilary didn't have some crazy abortion… She's not a dumbass, silly!

Crazybird: Thanks for the reviews :D YOU ROCK. 3

Desara: Look! Another one! Thanks so much for the review ;)

XxxBloody HimeXxx : Psh, no, YOU'RE AWESOME. And no worries, no begging needed, just your kind words are enough!

Tempest-storm: I'm glad you like my twists! I just hope I don't go overboard, yeah xD? Thanks for the reviews!

Kiray Himawari: I didn't update quite as fast, but hopefully I'll be able to crank another chapter out tomorrow… :)

THANKS TO ALLLLL MY READERS! You're all so wonderful ;)


	11. Chapter 11

The Ladies Man- Chapter 11

A/N: Remember this is an AU, my critters. I did not stick to the Beyblade plot of Kai's past… Though influences? Yes. This is a shawty chapter. And by shawty I mean short.

* * *

Tala _knew?_

How could he _know?_

TYSON NEVER _TOLD_ HIM.

And yet… He _knew?_

"Uhh, what?" Tyson said stupidly, looking up at Tala with wide eyes.

"Tyson, I know this is hard for you to accept—" Tala began.

"Accept?" Tyson asked quickly and loudly, feeling somehow exposed.

"I mean, it must be kind of weird knowing that I know you like—" Tala tried again.

"_LIKE_?" Tyson screeched, looking at other boy like he'd just grown a second head.

"Tyson_, breathe_." Tala said with a sigh, looking somewhat defeated.

"_BREATHE?" _Tyson squeaked in the most manly manner a young teenager could.

"You like Kai." Tala said quickly and decisively and Tyson choked on his own saliva, completing the awkward moment.

A silence passed between the two as Tyson caught his breath and Tala contemplated how and why he started this conversation.

"Well now that it's all out on the table…" Tala said with a pause, to glance at his younger friend who was staring at the ground like it spit on him and flipped off his mother.

"I don't know what you're talking about Tala!" Tyson said suddenly, looking up from his glaring contest with the ground and giving Tala the cheesiest most plastic smile the Russian had ever seen.

"Uhh, Tyson?" Tala asked uncomfortably as the younger boy beamed at him.

"Kai and I are great friends. Kai's helping me get laid." Tyson said, nodding to himself, his grin not wavering as the words left his mouth.

"Tyson… It's ok, I _understand_—"

"Well good! I'm glad we had this discussion. Look at the time! Wow! I must get going, Tala, really, I have things to do and homework to burn and—"

"Tyson, stop cutting me off." Tala growled at the younger teen who ignored him.

"—I bet gramps is gonna want me to do all kinds of chores and drills and stuff and WOW! I better call Maxie too and ask him about going to the arcade sometime because it's been so long—" Tyson said and began to stand up.

That was, until he was intercepted by a firm hand on his shoulder, pushing him back onto the bench roughly and then slapping him just hard enough to sting a little.

"Tala?" Tyson asked pathetically, looking at the redhead with a defeated expression.

"Tyson, I don't know why Kai took to you like he did, but I don't want you to fuck this up, so there's some things you have to know." Tala said, not looking at Tyson until he was finished speaking. The younger froze under the sheer ferocity of the look Tala gave him, this was clearly something deeply important to the older boy.

"What things?" Tyson asked quietly, his mind settled enough to listen.

"You must have wondered by now why he and Hilary broke up… And perhaps why he's so bitter about it." Tala said seriously.

"Well, yeah, but… I thought he'd tell me, eventually." Tyson said with a shrug, honesty in his words.

"Not if you keep fucking this up. I won't give you the full story, because it's not mine to tell, but I will give you a few no-no's around Kai." Tala said, his lips pressed into a straight line after he finished talking.

"Okay, shoot." Tyson confirmed.

"First of all, don't question his feelings, even the negative ones towards your friends. He's very sensitive, very, _very _sensitive. He also has a quick temper, but you've seen that." Tala stated and Tyson nodded.

"Alright…" Tyson responded.

"Hilary was his first love. He was fairly innocent at the time, an outcast in addition, and so it wasn't hard for him to fall for her." Tala said and took a deep breath, "But things changed one summer, his parents were killed in an airplane crash early in the summer and he was sent to his grandfather's for the remainder of the summer. It didn't go so well with his gramps, and he came back different. He came back the way he is now, and Hilary didn't like it." Tala said, sort of vaguely.

"What do you mean?" Tyson asked, looking at Tala with wide eyes and his head cocked slightly to the left.

"He wasn't ready to talk about it, and she forced the subject, and he snapped at her one too many times, and she dumped him. Then hooked up with ole' Maxie a few months later, while Kai was still reeling from the breakup." Tala finished. Tyson took a deep breath and nodded again, his mind mulling over the story Tala had just given him.

"So nowadays he's such a pig with the girlies because he resents the way Hilary treated him, and Hilary refuses to sleep with Max because she thinks that he will use her for it, which she mistakenly thinks Kai did. It's really a mess. However, Kai slowed his habits of breaking hearts a bit when he became friends with little obnoxious you." Tala said and Tyson looked at him briefly before speaking.

"Why?" That was the only question Tyson had at the moment.

"I don't know. I don't get it either, because half the time he complains about you, the other half he seems to like you, in his very aloof way." Tala continued.

"And how do you know about Hilary?" Tyson asked suddenly, realizing Tala had mentiond his friend before.

"I know everything." Tala said with a grin.

"Oh. Right." Tyson said, giving Tala a grin back.

"You know, Tyson, what you need to do now is let me give you a ride to Kai's place so you can corner him and grovel at his feet." Tala said slyly.

"I can do that!" Tyson said enthusiastically.

"Just no dirty thoughts while you're on your knees in front of him." Tala threw in for good measure, causing his younger friend's face to turn bright red.

"TALA!" Tyson shrieked and the older boy laughed, getting up and walking towards his beat up little car.

"Um, Tala?" Tyson asked as they settled into their seats in his car a few minutes later.

"Yes, Tyson?" Tala replied, clicking in his seat belt and shoving his keys into the ignition.

"Thanks." Tyson said with a smile and the older just smiled back and drove off.

* * *

_**Knock! Knock! Knock!**_

"GO AWAY." A gruff voice from behind a white door barked.

"KAI! I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!" Tyson screeched, knocking a few more times.

"I'M BUSY." Kai growled loudly at the closed door.

"Just open the door, Kai! C'mon!" Tyson said loudly, knocking more.

"No." Kai hissed just loud enough for Tyson to hear him.

"Kai, please, we're friends." Tyson said, pleading just slightly.

"We're not friends, kid, we're… Unfortunate acquaintances!" Kai said and Tyson felt that one sting a little.

"Kai! We're friends, and I don't want you to be mad at me anymore. I fucked up, I know, and I'm sorry." Tyson said softly, banging his head on the door in a defeated manner and leaving it there.

And then he promptly fell on top of his muscular crush when the older yanked open the door.

Tyson landed with a 'Thump!' on Kai's legs and the older teen crashed down onto the carpeted floor less than gracefully.

Tyson looked up at Kai's crimson eyes which were glaring at him heatedly.

And, unfortunately, the younger teen blushed harshly as he scrambled off his older friend. Kai just collected himself and stood up slowly.

"So you came here to tackle me?" Kai asked once he was up, and he looked at his younger friend who was effectively avoiding eye contact and blankly looking around at the apartment.

"Well, will that make you forgive me?" Tyson asked absent mindedly.

"No." Kai said with crossed arms, huffing at Tyson.

"Well, Kai, I came to apologize." Tyson said honestly, finally cooled off enough to look at Kai's attractive face directly. The crimson-eyes boy just stared at him for a few long moments.

"Go sit down. I'll grab you a coke." Kai said and relaxed, gesturing to the couch. Tyson perked up instantly and smiled as Kai turned and walked to his kitchen.

Kai came back a few minutes later and handed Tyson a cooled can of soda, Tyson just grinned at him as the older teen sat next to him and turned on the TV.

The boys watched crappy reality TV for a few minutes before there was a creaking of a door down the short hallway.

Alexa, of all people, scampered out and into the living room. She set one hand on her hip and looked at the two boys with an annoyed look. The girl was wearing just a tank top and black lacy panties, which made Tyson a little nauceous to see as he diverted his eyes to her messy dark brown hair and smeared eye makeup.

Uhhh, awkward much?

"Kai, baby, what're you doing?" The girl purred from her stance near the hallway entrance. She shifted her weight all to one side and stuck out her hip seductively. Tyson just felt uncomfortable.

"Watching TV with Tyson." Kai said with a shrug, not even glancing at the girl as he sipped his can of soda delicately.

"Uhm… Well, we were kinda busy, why doesn't Tyson come back another time?" The girls soft voice asked, almost dripping with a fake sugary sweetness. Tyson instantly felt his back tense and a strong desire to just leave the apartment and never look back.

"Why don't you leave? This is my apartment, you aren't my mother, that shirt is way too small, and you haven't shaved your legs in like two days. Get out, now." Kai barked, not even bothering to look at the girl who just stood in her spot, horrified. She then quickly dashed to Kai's room to grab her clothes, then came into the living room and glared at them both.

"Fuck you, Kai Hiwatari." She hissed.

"You've already fucked me, babe, and you better enjoy those memories because I'm the best a bitch like you can do. Fix your makeup, too, you look like a used prostitute. And by prostitute, I mean whore, because you aren't worth my money." Kai said swiftly, the girl gaped at him before leaving in a huff and slamming his front door loudly. Kai let out a chuckle.

"Kai… That was… That was… harsh." Tyson said slowly, studying his friend who just looked amused.

"Ah, well, I did learn from the best, _Ty_." Kai almost teased, glancing at Tyson light heartedly.

God, this guy was bipolar.

"What're you implying, Mr. Hiwatari?" Tyson asked playfully, grinning at his crush.

"Nothing dishonorable, I assure you, Kinomiya." Kai said, and Tyson almost couldn't believe that Kai was almost bantering playfully with him.

"Well that would be a little out of character for you, wouldn't it? You're all about dishonorable." Tyson tried to tease back, but he knew he was melting at the idea of Kai and him actually _bantering_ like friends.

"Honorable or not, your mom seemed to like it." Kai stated with a small grin and Tyson sighed with a big smile on his face.

"I can't believe you just kicked Alexa out. You said she was really good in bed." Tyson said, though it was off subject.

"Well, Ty, she was fairly awesome in the sack, however a bitch is still a bitch. And any girl who thinks she can tell me what to do is, well, just a bitch." Kai said and paused for a moment or two, "And either way, your company is much more enjoyable." Kai said, flipping the TV channel idly.

Tyson couldn't help but feel his heart race to life at the compliment, and his cheeks heated.

"I mean, there's nothing more enjoyable than watching a baboon try and get laid." Kai said and looked at Tyson, a small grin on his lips and his eyes slightly crinkled at the sides with amusement.

Tyson turned to goo at the sight.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing!I really enjoyed writing this chapter... I am dedicating this chapter to **Inyoface **because she likes awkwardness and I feel like this chapter was really awkward! That, and she has some AWESOME reviews and is a loyal reader. I LOVE YOU.

I got 10 reviews for chapter 10 so I can't respond to them all without wasting tons of words and whatnot… So I'll just answer the ones with questions and silently love, and adore, the rest of you :) You motivate me beyond belief. I feel so honored when you all take the time out of your busy lives to leave me kind words T.T

Ruby1056: Yes to your confused question and I'm sorry I wasn't clearer! Kai was feeling left out by his best friend Tala and Tyson hanging out and not inviting him. He's kind of a control freak though…

Map: Oh Lordy I love your reviews… Well, now you have a bit more to go on as far as to what happened with Hilary and Kai, and I think you're definitely picking up my direction with Kai's slight jealousy! And, I will try to include more Ray (Just for you ;D), but he's SUCH a hard character for me to write because he lacks a ton of distinctive personality traits. I'll what I can do, and hopefully not fail epically. Love you :3


	12. Chapter 12

The Ladies Man Chapter 12

A/N: Oh… Hey… I'm back… (…again…)… Proof reading/editing is for squares…

* * *

"Tyson! There you are, bud." Max said brightly from the cafeteria table. He smiled at his friend who approached the table, also beaming.

"Hey Maxie!" Tyson said, sitting down and throwing his backpack on the floor next to him. "Did you see that new game at the arcade yet? It's like Super Kill Things 6, but better!" Tyson exclaimed.

"Uh, no. I haven't been since we went last." Max replied, his smile dwindling just slightly.

"Well, we gotta go then, because it's totally bitchin'." Tyson informed his friend with a grin, "Hey Hil, what'cha working on?"

"Math homework." The brunette replied, writing furiously on a piece of notebook paper.

"Since you're obviously enthralled, could I possibly borrow your boyfriend for a bit?" Tyson asked, Max just gave him a dirty look for asking her permission.

"Well, I've got a short contract for you to sign, and then we'll have to conduct an interview. After that, I want him returned in the exact same condition he left in, packaging and all. And I don't do refunds, he goes as is." She said, glancing up at Tyson with a sly smile.

Tyson grinned back at the brunette and winked at her.

"I'll have him back by lunch." Tyson said with a thumbs up.

"I'll be cleaning my rifle in the mean time." Hilary replied.

"Fabulous! Come on, fair maiden. Oh, and Hil, I'm sorry about Kai." Tyson apologized.

"It's alright, Tyson. You're obviously going through something." She replied dryly, Tyson was delighted her thoughts had shifted.

"Bye Hil." Max said, kissing the top of her head once and getting up to leave. Hilary waved at him briefly before continuing with her work.

"She seems happy." Tyson commented as him and his friend left the cafeteria.

"We had a little heart to heart last night about the whole thing. I think she's accepted that you're going to do what you want to, and she doesn't have a huge say in the whole thing, and she shouldn't." Max said with a shrug.

"Oh, that's good." Tyson said with a nod, smiling at his best friend.

"Oh, and, uhh…" Max began, but then paused. Tyson looked at his friend whose cheeks were burning as he struggled to find words.

"What, Maxie?" Tyson asked, worried the American was having some sort of attack.

"Well… She… Well, we… Last night… Uhh…" Max paused again, looking around insecurely, "We… like… intercourse?" Max said awkwardly, and both boys stopped in their tracks. They exchanged glances before they both cracked huge grins.

"YEAH BUDDY!" Tyson yelled, throwing an arm around Max's neck and hugging him exuberantly.

"Tyson, settle down, you're not supposed to know!" Max said in a hushed voice, trying to calm his obviously ecstatic best friend.

"THAT'S WHY SHE'S IN A GOOD MOOD!" Tyson yelled again, hopping on the balls of his feet and smiling at the blushing blonde.

Max just smiled cheekily at his best friend.

"Dude, that's a terrible mental picture though." Tyson said with a sudden cringe.

"Don't picture my girlfriend then!" Max said, the only shred of possessiveness in him.

"Heh, don't worry about that, bud." Tyson said with a grin, which slowly faded to an insecure frown.

"You alright Tyson?" Max asked him, curious as to the sudden change in demeanor.

"Max, there's something I should tell you, I guess." Tyson said, chewing on his bottom lip almost violently.

"What is it, man?" Max asked.

"Can we go somewhere less populated?" Tyson asked and Max nodded, the two headed out the back of the building to the courtyard. They ended up sitting under the same tree Tyson and Kai had before during Tyson's 'lessons'.

"What is it, buddy?" Max asked, his big blue eyes curious. Tyson took a few deep breaths and felt his stomach knot. He didn't _want_ to tell Max, but his friend has to know. And of anyone in this world, Maxie would be the most understanding.

"Well, here goes everything…" Tyson mumbled. Then, he looked up at Max and met his gaze, looking seriously at the American, "Max, I have a confession to make that I hope won't hurt our friendship." Tyson started confidently, but began to feel shaken as the words were closer to being said.

"You're pregnant?" Max asked sarcastically.

Tyson face-palmed, and sighed. "Maxie! This is serious!" Tyson whined.

"I know, Ty, but you look so uncomfortable." Max said, raising an eyebrow.

"I know. But I'm telling you something. So be quiet." Tyson said and Max just nodded. "Max… I think I'm like… bisexual or gay or something." Tyson said quietly, looking at the grass in front of him. He was trembling, just slightly, with the confession and didn't really even want to hear Max's response.

Max just placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, giving Tyson a reassuring squeeze.

"You ok, buddy?" Max asked, not removing his hand.

"That's all you have to say?" Tyson asked in an almost offended tone.

"What do you mean?" Max questioned.

"Aren't you disgusted or uncomfortable or something?" Tyson barked, still refusing to look at his friend.

"No, Ty. You're my best friend, I'm always happy to learn new things about you." Max said with a smile. Tyson looked up at the American and saw how genuine his friend was, and it was exceedingly obvious why Max was such a super best friend.

"Maxie… You're the best, you know?" Tyson said with a grin, tackling his friend to the ground in a hug.

"You're not getting off on this, are you?" Max threw in as Tyson glomped him thoroughly.

"Shut up, dude." Tyson said and whacked him in the shoulder before climbing off his friend.

Tyson climbed off Max and stood up, brushed himself off, looked up, and his gaze met crimson.

"Kai?" Tyson asked, his heart racing to life as being startled.

"Hey, Ty." The older boy said. Tyson glanced at Max and offered him a hand to help his friend up. Max took the hand and got up as well, standing beside his love-struck friend.

"What're you doing, man?" Tyson asked slowly, studying Kai's posture. The older student had his arms crossed, but he didn't look angry. Curious, maybe, but not angry. He looked even, possibly, light hearted about this whole thing.

"I didn't think you skipped classes." Kai said slowly.

"Oh shoot! Ty, I better run, I really can't miss first period!" Max said suddenly, realizing what time it was.

"Bye Maxie! Thanks for everything." Tyson said, Max gave him one last fist-bump before scrambling off to his class.

"You two looked cozy." Kai said, raising an eyebrow.

"Maxie's awesome." Tyson said with a smile. Kai walked forward until he was just a few feet from Tyson, to make the conversation easier.

"You've been friends for a long time?" Kai asked, studying his younger friend.

"Yeah!" Tyson replied with a grin.

Kai clenched his jaw, the muscles tensing visibly.

"You seem really close, right?" Kai asked, looking at the ground, then up to Tyson's eyes coolly.

"We're best friends, so yeah…" Tyson said, a bit confused as to where Kai was going with this. He could smell Kai from where he was standing, though, and it made him shiver.

Kai was quiet for a few moments, and he looked at the ground for a long while, before taking yet another step closer. Tyson sucked in a deep breath quickly, he never knew what Kai would do next.

Perhaps that was part of the appeal…

"Why do you bump fists?" Kai asked him, staring at the shorter teen from the close distance made Tyson feel euphoric.

"I dunno, we just always have." Tyson said quietly, mesmerized by the large crimson orbs so close to him.

"Why don't you bump fists with me?" Kai asked honestly, looking at his own hand for a moment, before continuing his steady gaze.

"I dunno, Kai. We just haven't." Tyson said with a slight shrug, not sure how to react.

"Oh, I see." Kai said simply, relaxing his posture and looking around the courtyard briefly.

"Would you like to bump fists, Kai?" Tyson asked, a small smile on his face, looking at the other boy coyly.

"No, that's ok." Kai said with a dramatic sigh.

Tyson just grinned at him. "C'mon, Kai! Fist bump me!" Tyson said and tried to bump fist with Kai's hand which hung at his side, until the older boy picked up his hand and avoided it.

"Nope, I'm good." Kai said, almost teasing. Tyson just grinned and continued to pursue Kai's fist. The older teen swung his fist away from Tyson's impending bump, causing the younger to chase it. Kai, eventually, picked up his arm above his head and watched as Tyson glared at the offending appendage with a smug smirk.

"I said I was good, Kinomiya." Kai said, still smug.

"Kai!" Tyson pouted, lightly stomping one foot and glaring up at the taller teen.

"What? You pouting?" Kai asked, not moving his raised fist.

"Maybe." Tyson said, sticking his tongue out at Kai and continuing his sulk.

"Well, if you want it so bad, get it." Kai said with a smirk.

Tyson raised both eyebrows. Was that a challenge? Oh, Tyson liked challenges.

"Is that a challenge, Mr. Hiwatari?" Tyson asked, putting his hands on his hips like Hilary was so known for doing.

"You can take it however you want to, kid." Kai said, Tyson just smiled.

Tyson nodded and looked at the ground quietly for a moment before springing into action.

The younger teen jumped forward and prodded Kai's ribcage where the older teen's arm was raised. Kai immediately took his arm down and defended his open side, but Tyson continued to tickle his as best he could.

"Stop that!" Kai hissed. Tyson laughed through the struggle before finally giving up and backing away for a second, not before bumping his fist to Kai's.

"Win!" Tyson declared and smiled at Kai.

Kai just looked at him for a moment before cracking a smile too.

"Don't get used to it." He said and rubbed his abused side.

"Oh, never." Tyson said with a chuckle. First period was probably nearing over, and so the two would probably have to split ways soon, which made Tyson feel a bit gloomy. He frowned at the thought.

"What's your problem now?" Kai asked, though his words seemed harsh, his tone was anything but.

"Oh, uh, nothing." Tyson said and gave the older boy a small smile.

"Come skip with me." Kai stated, looking at Tyson directly.

"What? I can't miss a whole day of school! What if they call home?" Tyson said, slightly frantic, though he really did want to spend the day with Kai…

"They don't do that in high school, dumb shit, stop worrying and come with me." Kai informed his younger friend.

"You promise?" Tyson asked, like a little kid.

"Yes." Kai replied dryly.

"Fist bump on it?" Tyson asked, sticking his fist out, as well as his lower lip.

"Whatever." Kai said and bumped Tyson's fist casually. Tyson smiled.

The two walked away from the school and towards Kai's apartment in a comfortable silence.

* * *

A/N: Hey there muchachos! So I've returned. I'm in college now, taking a whopping 11 credits (That was sarcasm), and I've been working really hard on all my original writing (None in which has been posted yet). The problem with my original stories is that they're all like "ANGST ANGST ANGST [Insert sex] ANGST ANGST ANGST [more sex] ANGST!" and on like that. This story is so cute and fun to write, I get so into it! It's like I'm reading it, not writing it. Anyways, if there is anyone out there who wants me to finish this, please lemme know! I mean, I'll finish it anyways, but the reviews make me feel better… A little bit like a whore, but a very happy and appreciated one. THANKS GUYS! LOVE YOU SO MUCH! Oh, please let me know about any glaring timeline errors, since I've been away for a few months I may have confused myself.


	13. Chapter 13

The Ladies Man- Chapter 13

A/N: When I wrote out the outline for the chapter, it ended with "and insanity ensues".

* * *

"Kai, where are we going?" Tyson asked his older companion. The two were walking around town in a seemingly aimless fashion.

"You'll see, kid." Kai replied, taking another countless turn and down into a residential area. It wasn't a bad part of town, so Tyson wasn't nervous at all, but he'd never been here before. The houses were almost all one story and dark, but it was the middle of the day and its residents were most likely at work or school… like Tyson and Kai should be.

"Oh fine…" Tyson said with a sigh, keeping up with Kai's brisk pace (Though none too happily). Kai eventually crossed the street and approached a house. The quaint structure was painted gray with a dark blue trim, it looks neat and tidy. The yard didn't have any personality, and all the gardening was well-kept and orderly.

Tyson was really getting curious now. The two teenagers approached the house, up the small path through the grass and to the red front door.

Kai rang the door bell approximately 428326726 times before loud curses could be heard from inside. Kai kept prodding the button relentlessly, blankly staring at the unopened door.

"For fucks sake, fucking stop that." The person from behind the door grumbled, Kai took his hand away from the button as the red door swung open.

"Tala?" Tyson asked loudly, looking at his older friend with wide-eyes, then a smile. Tala looked like he'd just rolled out of bed, wearing a white wife beater and black sweatpants, just barely clinging to his narrow hips.

"Tyson! So good to see you." Tala said, walking around Kai and back to the younger teen with open arms. Tala placed a solid hug around Tyson's neck, "Follow my lead." Tala whispered into Tyson's ear during the extended hug. Tyson nodded, though the movement was somewhat restricted with Tala's proximity.

Tala released Tyson, only to throw an arm around his shoulders and head towards the house, giving Kai a grin as he went.

"Oh! I love having company. C'mon grumpy pants." Tala said, waltzing into the house, arm still flung around Tyson who glanced at Kai briefly as they passed. The older teen didn't look happy, eyes narrowed and jaw clenched.

"Well only if we're not imposing." Kai said sarcastically as he followed his two friends inside, shutting the door firmly behind him.

The inside of Tala's abode was as neat and clean as the outside, similar to Kai's apartment. It wasn't heavily furnished, just a simple couch, TV, stereo system, and coffee table in the living room. Tala continued walking with Tyson until they reached a hallway then went down to the second door on the right, pushing the door open revealed what was obviously Tala's bedroom.

A fairly large room given the house, Tala's bedroom must be the largest of the small house. He had a large bed, a desk, a TV, and a futon situated in the room. There were various items strewn about, it wasn't as neat as the rest of the house, but still sanitary (Contrary to Tyson's room).

Tyson glanced around as Tala released him, noticing a wolf sculpture sitting on his dresser. Tyson walked over to the thing, awed by how beautiful it was. It was a white wolf, its hackles were raised and its lips pulled fiercely over its teeth in a snarl. There were jagged ice pieces jutting out from red anklets around the wolfs legs, the ice painted a beautiful vibrant blue. The wolf was in a crouched position, the lines of its muscles under its sculpted fur taut and ready to spring into action. The creation was so lifelike and beautiful, Tyson couldn't help but stare.

"Tyson?" Tala asked, walking over to the younger.

"Huh?" Tyson stopped looking at the wolf for a moment to look up at Tala.

"Admiring Wolborg, I see." Tala said with a grin, "Kai made that for me in 9th grade."

"I didn't make her _for_ you, I made her, _and then _she reminded me of you." Kai hissed his defense from his spot on Tala's made bed.

"Kai, you were this good as a freshman?" Tyson said, eyebrows raised in surprise.

Could Kai get _any_ cooler?

"Basically." Kai grumbled, flopping onto his back on Tala's bed.

"So what're you two here for?" Tala asked, walking over and sitting down on his futon gracefully, crossing his legs and arms as he looked to his grumpy friend on his bed.

"Bored. Skipping." Kai replied, not moving. Tyson sat next to Tala on the futon, though he was finding it hard to relax.

"Tsk, tsk." Tala said sarcastically, then looked to Tyson, "I'm glad you came." He said with a smile. Tyson just stared at him for a moment, a confused look on his face. Tyson just shrugged it off and glanced to the spot where Kai was, only to see the older teen sitting up and glaring at him heatedly.

"What?" Tyson asked him. There was a long pause in room, the atmosphere somehow stale.

"Anyone thirsty?" Tala asked out of the blue.

"Coffee." Kai said bluntly, still sitting and giving Tyson a calculated look.

"Fuck, fine. It'll be a minute. C'mon, Tyson, you're helping me." Tala said, plucking the sleeve of the somewhat confused younger boy.

"Okay…" Tyson mumbled as he was drug from the room by his red-headed friend.

The two walked to the front of the house to the small kitchen. Tala opened his coffee maker and began the process he was so familiar with, filling the pot with water, emptying the old grounds and replacing them, programming and starting the machine.

"Did you need help with something?" Tyson asked. Tala quickly finished what he was doing then walked over to Tyson in a few long strides. He leaned over and spoke in a hushed tone.

"Okay. We have approximately 15 seconds before Kai gets curious and wanders out here to spy on us. I've got this all figured out; just play innocent and confused like you have been." Tala said and then stood up straight, "It's very convincing." He said with a wink.

"Uhhh, ok…" Tyson said, watching Tala as he looked around the kitchen casually.

Tyson was quite unsure of this whole thing, Tala wasn't exactly acting like himself…

"Trust me, ok?" Tala said quickly, looking at Tyson seriously with his icy blue eyes.

The same icy blue that was painted on Wolborg… Though it looked much for devious now. Could a color even look devious? Tyson could see the resemblance to the sculpted wolf now. He nodded to answer Tala's question.

"So Tyson, you're skipping school today?" Tala asked a little too loudly, the young teen watched him closely, and nodded silently.

"You know, that's not a very good idea if you want to keep up with your studies…" Tala said, then walked over and stood to Tyson's left, sideling up to him until his arm just brushed Tyson's jacketed one, "Not that I'm not happy to see you, of course." Tala continued, looking at Tyson with a steady gaze. Tala gave him a small smile.

"T-thanks for having me over. This is a nice house." Tyson all but stuttered, not quite comprehending what game they were playing here. The eye contact was somehow… suffocating.

"Thanks. My parents bought it, they live in Russia still, though, so it's just me!" Tala said cheerfully. He then moved his arm so his hand was resting on the counter behind Tyson's back, causing the red-heads arm to brush diagonally across Tyson's back. The Russian was so close, Tyson could feel his warmth all along his side. It was a pleasant feeling, but it wasn't intoxicating… Not like Kai had been. And his gaze wasn't hypnotizing, just uncomfortable.

"You know, now that you know where I live, you could come visit sometime." Tala all but purred in Tyson's unsuspecting ear, causing the younger to jump at the suddenly very open invitation.

"Well, I'm already visiting." Tyson said with an awkward 'haha' at the end of his sentence. He was so uncomfortable. _What was Tala doing? _Better yet,_ why?_

"Yeah but I meant… Alone, if you will." Tala said again, Tyson could feel Tala's hot breath on his ear and it sent shivers down his spine and blood to his cheeks.

Happy shivers.

God_, if this were Kai_, he'd be in heaven.

However, Tala wasn't Kai, this was just some silly game, and Tyson still didn't understand what the fuck was going on.

Tala jumped away suddenly and gave Tyson two thumbs up and a grin.

"Perfect! You should really consider a career in acting because that was spotless!" Tala said excitedly to Tyson who was still a little flabbergasted by the whole experience.

"W-what?" Tyson managed to sputter out.

"Kai heard the whole thing!" Tala said, bouncing on his toes.

"Why?" Tyson practically screeched, Tala smacked a hand over his mouth quickly though, muffling anymore noise from the younger teen.

"Because he's going to think I'm coming onto you. He won't like that, and he'll feel oddly protective of you and he won't know why. It'll just get the gears turning, trust me." Tala said quietly. He then removed his hand from Tyson's mouth, the younger giving him a glare in the process, "Coffee?" Tala asked, gesturing to the now full coffee pot.

* * *

Kai had been quiet for the remainder of the afternoon, often lost in thought and brooding endlessly by himself. Tala and Tyson busied themselves with hours of videogames, occasionally trying to engage the older who refused to speak, let alone interact, with the two.

It was around 5 o'clock when Kai decided they were leaving. He made this apparent by standing, giving Tyson a pointed look, and then leaving the house. Tyson said a quick goodbye to his relatively new found friend, Tala, and followed behind Kai at a jog until he was able to catch up with the quick pace of the older teen.

"Kai! Wait up!" Tyson said, huffing as he finally caught up to his mentor, who was smoking a cigarette already.

"Kai? You've been so quiet, what's up?" Tyson asked his friend as the two walked together towards home.

Kai didn't respond, just pressed his lips in a straight line and continued walking, not breaking stride with any of the questions Tyson tried to throw at him throughout the walk, continuously smoking. Kai simply grunted as a goodbye, and pulled out another cigarette.

"You know Kai, those are really bad for you!" Tyson said as Kai walked away from him when they needed to go their separate ways. Kai just shrugged, not bothering to look back.

Tyson went home feeling guilty.

* * *

A/N: Sorry it's short! I wrote this chapter once before and it ended too steamy too quickly, so I saved it for later and wrote this. THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS! 21 reviews for one chapter? Are you fucking kidding me? I have the best critters ever… I should be studying for chemistry, but instead I'm going to start on chapter 14 for you all… Gosh, I'm so honored, ya'll! Oh, and watch out for my holiday themed, slightly cliché, Max/Hilary fic called "Pumpkin Spice". It'll be a two-shot I think. Will be out before Christmas I hope. Oh, and I'm also doing another TaKa one-shot, if it ends well I'll post it :)!


	14. Chapter 14

The Ladies Man- Chapter 14

* * *

The next morning was a gorgeous one, the sun was unusually bright and cloaked the small town in a wash of yellow.

Tyson Kinomiya, however, was feeling a bit more gloomy than the weather might suggest.

Tyson walked to school slowly, grasping his backpack straps and dragging his feet across the cement in an exaggerated manner. He felt generally terrible, like a terrible person, and an even worse friend. It certainly didn't help that he liked Kai so much it was beginning to hurt.

The teen got to school later than usual, and bypassed seeing his friends in order to sulk straight to class, where he waited quietly for the learning to begin.

It went on like this for hours.

Just as Tyson was beginning to contemplate ways to torture himself like he'd done to his dear friend Kai, the lunch bell rang and his stomach growled fiercely.

"Lunch… " Tyson said with a sigh as his class shuffled out of the crowded room. He shoved his unused notebook in his bag (Like he'd take notes in government? Blasphemy!) , and got up to leave. He exited the classroom and headed down the hall towards the cafeteria, but not before being ambushed by a blonde blur.

"TYSON! Where have you been all morning?" Max asked him after an initial tackle, "I texted you about a trillion times!" The other boy said animatedly, looking at his friend with worried eyes.

"Sorry Maxie, my phone's been off." Tyson said with a sigh, grabbing the small electronic and pressing the 'on' button.

"Oh, it's ok. Are you alright? You look a little… glum." Max said, observing his friend closely. The usually vibrant Tyson looked very deflated.

"Oh? Eh, I'm alright." Tyson replied, before his stomach growled loudly, "Heh, just a little hungry." The teen added with a cheeky grin.

"C'mon dude, let's go get some lunch!" Max said, assuming a meal would fix Tyson's problem.

"Sounds good." Tyson said with a small smile as Max threw a friendly arm around his shoulders and pointed to the cafeteria. Or at least the general direction of the cafeteria.

* * *

Tyson ate all of his lunch and most of Max's lunch, an apple from Hilary, and Kenny's granola bar, before settling to stare at his friends who were all eyeing him suspiciously.

"Tyson, you're acting a little weird today." Hilary observed, giving her friend a once over.

"Huh?" Tyson asked, giving Hilary a wide-eyed stare.

"You look like someone killed your cat. And you're coping by eating everyone elses lunch." Hilary deadpanned.

"Hm? I don't have a cat." Tyson replied, before pausing for a moment, "Wait, Hil, are you calling me fat?" Tyson acted appalled, throwing a hand over his chest for drama.

"I didn't say it." The girl replied, raising an eyebrow along with a smirk.

"You hurt me! You wound me! You… You… Tear apart my soul! You heartless—"

"Tyson, come with me." A deep voice asserted from behind the teen who'd begun climbing on the table towards his brunette friend. Tyson turned his head to see Kai and nearly fell flat onto the table. He slowly brought his left knee down from atop the structure and stood up, clearing his throat.

"Hey Kai, you caught me at an interesting moment here, and you see…" Tyson began, though before he could finish the taller teen began walking away. "Kai! Wait up!"

"Then hurry up, you simpleton." Kai said flatly and didn't break pace.

"Dammit! Gahh!" Tyson shireked, stuffing his items into his backpack and waving at his friends before jogging after Kai.

"Simpleton? That's getting pretty creative, Kai, I like it when you mix it up." Tyson said, smiling brightly at the older. Kai stopped once they were outside the cafeteria in a near empty hallway.

Kai sighed deeply, "Well, since I can't rely on _you_ to entertain me." Kai replied with a shrug. He then pointed to the outside door and began towards it.

"Kai, I really can't miss math anymore this term…" Tyson mumbled.

"We're just going outside so I can smoke." Kai replied, pushing the metal door open. Tyson trailed behind him until the older stopped at his usual spot around the corner from the school, pulling out his small box of tobacco sticks and shoving one between his lips.

"You know, those really—"

"Bad for me, got it." Kai barked, inhaling the smoke and blowing it out of his nose.

"Yeah…" Tyson said, looking at his feet, feeling his face heat up.

"Tyson." Kai said and Tyson snapped his head up to look at the senior.

"Yes, Kai?" The younger asked hopefully.

"You're an idiot." Kai said flatly. Tyson just nodded and pressed his lips together. "So you agree with me?" Kai asked, raising an eyebrow. Tyson just shook his head, switching between staring at the ground and staring at Kai's hair.

"Sorry, Kai." Tyson replied, feeling his stomach twist painfully.

"You know, if you're… interested, in Tala, you could have just told me." Kai said, his voice tight and uncomfortable. Tyson looked at Kai's face for a moment, the teen was pretty intensely smoking his cigarette, barely giving the burning stick a break between puffs.

"…I'm not_ interested_ in Tala." Tyson replied, feeling his cheeks begin to burn as he stared a Kai's insistent smoking.

"You don't have to lie to me or anything. It's cool." The older said with a particularly large inhale, which he blew from both his nose and mouth. He looked like a phoenix, and he was still avoiding eye contact.

"I'm not." Tyson said timidly. "I would tell you if I was." Tyson tried again to convince the older teen.

"Really?" Kai asked, although it didn't look like he wanted an answer, because he threw his mostly smoked cigarette on the ground and stepped on it somewhat violently. Tyson just stared for a moment. Kai was so hard to read sometimes.

"That's littering." Tyson said, looking at the remains of the cigarette.

"It's a plant." Kai replied, narrowly.

"There's a lot of additives though, and the paper isn't a plant." Tyson said, still looking at the cigarette.

"Sorry." Kai said tightly, and Tyson immediately looked up at him with wide eyes.

"What?" Tyson was confused. Utterly confused.

"You heard me. I won't do it again." Kai said simply. Tyson just stared.

"That's good." Tyson said after a few drawn out moments.

"Yeah." Kai replied, fidgeting with his hands and messing with his shirt hem.

Tyson stared a the visibly disturbed teen for a few more seconds before placing a comforting hand on his upper arm. Kai looked at him instantly, making his ever intense eye contact that had Tyson melting and gooey in seconds. Tyson gave him a small smile and squeezed his arm lightly before pulling his hand away.

"I've got math so… I'll see you after school?" Tyson asked quietly, still staring into the beautiful- _dear Lord-_ crimson eyes.

Kai nodded a few times, the hair in front of his face moving just a little with the motion.

Tyson walked away reluctantly, feeling more giddy than he had in ages, a cheesy grin spread far across his face.

* * *

School couldn't have ended soon enough for Tyson. He sprang from his seat as the last bell rang and ran out of his classroom like he was on fire. In a sense, he was.

He raced outside, into the sun, before nearly running into Max who stepped right in front of him.

"Hey Tyson." Max said with a smile as Tyson looked frantically around him. "Got somewhere to be?"

"Uh, hey Maxie. Look, I gotta go, but it was nice talking to you!" Tyson said with a grin and a wave, nearly running towards the corner he needed to turn. The anticipation for seeing Kai was almost smothering, all he really wanted to do was stare at those eyes for a few more… years.

He turned the corner and was immensely relived to see the older standing there, and noticed he wasn't smoking a cigarette.

"Kai!" Tyson said with a wave. There was a girl, a short petite blonde, talking to Kai as Tyson approached.

"So, like, you should totally come with!" The girl said with a flirty grin, "I'd love to spend more time with you." The girl said, shyly looking up towards the muscled senior.

Tyson felt his blood boil.

He glared at her, narrowing his eyes and clenching his teeth. It was probably lucky she wasn't paying him any attention, however Kai didn't miss anything.

Not that he ever would.

"Sounds like fun, but I've already got plans that night with my man here, Tyson." Kai replied, putting an arm around Tyson's shoulders in a similar way to Max. Tyson immediately stood up straight and looked up in awe at his older friend. "You understand. Maybe next time." Kai said and began walking away, leading Tyson to do the same. Neither of the boys looked back, although as they walked down the road, Kai eventually slid his arm off the younger teen. Tyson's face was glowing, and he could hear his blood pumping in his ears. But, lordy, he felt like a million bucks.

They walked together in what Tyson read as a comfortable silence. Obviously heading towards Kai's apartment, Tyson was just enjoying the weather and the change in Kai.

"You aren't smoking." Tyson observed.

"Ugh, don't remind me." Kai grumbled, his hands in his pockets casually.

"Why?" Tyson asked, a very confused expression on his face.

"I quit." Kai replied uncomfortably.

"As of like, this morning?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"It's bad for me." Kai replied and Tyson paused his step for a moment, looking up at his friend.

"That's really cool." Tyson said with a big smile, looking up at his friend.

Kai just continued walking, and Tyson did the same. The younger teen glanced at Kai a few blocks down the road and noticed a very small, but definitely existent, smile on Kai's face, the older teen glanced over and made eye contact with him though, and reverted to his usual scowl.

Tyson laughed awkwardly, Kai just… Gah. He was awesome.

They reached the older boys apartment and Tyson nearly skipped up the stairs to Kai's room. He started humming to himself, but that ended quickly when Kai gave him an elbow to the ribs.

"Ouch…" Tyson grumbled, rubbing his side as Kai unlocked the apartment.

"Want a coke or something?" Kai asked as the two walked into his very neat apartment. Kai flung his backpack on his small round table and Tyson headed straight for the couch.

"Yeah, man, that'd be great." Tyson said and flopped down on his friends couch, splaying himself over the entire thing effectively.

Kai walked over with two cans of cola and set them on his coffee table.

"You look like… an egg." Kai said eloquently. Tyson looked at him pointedly.

"If you see eggs that look like me, then you've probably got bigger issues than me on your couch." Tyson replied with a grin.

"No. Like broken egg. _Splattered_ all over my couch." Kai said and rolls his eyes, shoving Tyson's feet against the back cushion of the couch and sitting in front of them.

"…You're just such an artist with words, Kai." Tyson said slyly, smiling at the older toothlessly.

"I get that a lot." Kai replied casually, opening his soda and leaning back, effectively trapping Tyson's legs.

"A real Picaso. Like, you could paint the 16th chapel with... words." Tyson said with a chuckle. Kai slapped a hand over his face.

"You oaf, it's the _Sistine _chapel and it was painted by Michelangelo." Kai said, furrowing his brows and giving Tyson a very pointed look.

"Brilliant!" He paused, "Who do I look like now?" Tyson asked, crossing his arms, closing his eyes, scowling and sticking his lower lip out, "You're an egg." He said to add emphasis, in a baby voice.

"Santa Claus." Kai replied. Tyson cracked an eye open to see Kai grinning at him.

Kai reached to his left slowly and grabbed one of Tyson's socked feet, stroking the bottom of it mercilessly and holding his ankles against the couch.

"AH! KAI! KNOCK IT OFF! I'M VERY TICKLISH!" Tyson screeched, flailing uselessly as Kai tortured him thouroughly. The older teen only continued for a moment.

"Egghead." Kai said, his grin never budging.

"Santa Claus." Tyson said, glaring in a fake fashion at the older.

"Why don't you go crawl under a hen?" Kai asked.

"Well, that's the last time I'm leaving you cookies and milk."

"Birdbrain."

"Fairy tale."

"Embryonic fluid floater."

"Kai! That's disgusting!" Tyson squealed, throwing his hands in the air dramatically, "Say it three times fast!" Tyson said after a moment.

"No."

"Don't make me come sit on your lap, Mr. Claus." Tyson said, crossing his arms sitting up next to his older friend.

"I don't think that would help the situation any." Kai replied, sipping his soda.

Tyson just stared for a moment then laughed. He bumped him once with his elbow.

"You know, you're not nearly so grumpy now. In fact, I'd almost consider you pleasant." Tyson said with a smile.

"I'm flattered." Kai deadpanned.

"Well, I'd hope so. That's some high praise coming from me." Tyson informed the older.

"Most certainly." Kai replied, finishing his soda in a few long chugs before getting up the put the can in the kitchen.

He got up and walked to the kitchen.

Tyson just waited quietly for his friend, who appeared to just be standing rearrganing his countertop, which only consisted of a coffee maker, coffee can, a container of sugar, and a salt shaker.

"Kai? What'cha doing?" Tyson asked, looking at the older teen.

The older sighed deeply before walking back into the living room, a much more grim look on his face.

"Kai? Is everything ok?" Tyson asked, studying the older, nervous as to what was going on now. I mean, they were having such a good time together a minute ago!

"Tyson… Earlier, you said you weren't into Tala." Kai said, trying to look at Tyson but not quite being able to.

"Yeah." Tyson nearly squeaked, shell shocked by the change in mood. Albeit, that was Kai's MO.

"You didn't… Well… Most guys would protest the fact that Tala is a guy… You, well, didn't." Kai said, staring at the coffee table instead of his younger friend who was currently mortified.

"What? Well-well-well, you see, I just, sort of, don't, maybe, like, it's kind of…" Tyson freaked, frantically thinking of something to say to remedy the situation without blatantly lying to Kai. He didn't want to lie to Kai, but he certainly didn't want him to hate him either.

"Tyson, shush." Kai said, leaning back against his couch and looking at the younger, cowering teen perched precariously on the edge of his couch, somehow in a tiny ball. Tyson peered at him, blinking a few times, looking panicked and owlish.

"I'm sorry Kai." Tyson said, closing his eyes and bracing for impact.

"Tyson, chill." Kai said firmly, "Uncurl thyself." He said, reaching over to gently pry Tyson's arm from around his folded legs. "Obviously if I'm friends with Tala it's cool. I was just wondering is all." Kai explained clearly, a little taken aback by the somewhat violent reaction of his younger friend.

"Oh." Tyson said quietly, "Ok."

"How long have you known?" Kai asked after a few moments, trying not to spook his friend.

"Uh, like, not very long. I'm still not exactly sure what's going on, honestly." Tyson said, blushing hard and fighting back the urge to flee.

"Oh." Kai said with a nod. "Well, I guess it's good it's out in the open. Don't you feel better?" Kai asked.

"Well I guess… And it's _not _out in the open! Really. Only you, Tala, and Max know, so don't tell anyone, ok?" Tyson said quickly, looking up at Kai.

"Hold up... You told _Tala_ before you told _me_?" Kai asked, his voice tight and annoyed.

"No! No, no, no! I didn't _tell_ Tala anything! He just sort of… Figured it out!" Tyson said, feeling flustered once again.

Kai just glared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Believe me, Kai, he basically figured it out at the same time as I did." Tyson said, taking a deep breath.

"What does that mean?"

"Huh?" Tyson was again baffled.

"That sounds just a little incriminating. I mean, what, are you hooking up with Tala? Should I know something?" Kai accused out of the blue, Tyson just looked at him like he was insane.

"What?" Tyson could barely keep up with Kai now.

"What, did he like seduce you?" Kai barked, "I'll kick his ass, I will." Kai growled, glaring heatedly at the smaller teen.

"Wait, what? Why are you beating up Tala?" Tyson asked, "Shit, Kai, slow the fuck down." Tyson said, exhausted from the sudden outburst.

"For molesting you." Kai replied grumpily, huffing repeadtedly to himself.

"He didn't molest me! Or anyone! He's _Tala_, your _best friend_, remember?" Tyson explained, "Why are you so worked up, man?" Tyson finished, looking at Kai with worried eyes.

"Dear Lord, I need a cigarette." Kai said, rubbing his temples.

* * *

A/N: I'm a spineless, soulless, bottom-feeder for taking this long to update. I'm happy with the chaper though. And it's a bit longer than usual, word and page wise.

Thank you for all 29 comments. Holy shit, wow. Here's the replies to the few that wanted them:

Crazybird: I haven't forgotten you! Promise! I'm just busy :(

Falling Stars into the Sea: I love new readers/stalkers :) Hope you enjoy!

Carlie Davidson: I go to Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR. I adore it here, but it's also a good school for my major… The weathers a bummer, but OSU is really awesome. :D Message me if you want to know anything else!

Little Fate: You made my life with that epic comment. It was beautiful, reading it really made me smile and makes me want to continue to make you happy. Please enjoy, friend!

Hirurg: I'm getting there! This story was written specifically to be long and drawn out, because those are MY favorite stories to read, I think the more tension and the more building on the relationship the better the read is. Hopefully you'll agree as I finish this up!


	15. Chapter 15

TLM Chapter 15

* * *

"Kai… Hey, Kai!" Tyson prodded his older companion. The older was currently reading a book and ignoring the Japanese boy, seemingly engrossed in the black and white pages.

"Kaaaai?" Tyson asked again, creeping closer to his friend as he whined, "What're you reading?" He asked, bored with the cartoons playing on Kai's television.

"It's a little above your intellectual level." Kai said passively, flipping a page to the small book. Tyson noted mentally that it was particularly thin, and didn't look too terribly incomprehensible… Unlike that Lord of the Rings book that was approximately 3 million pages long.

"Oh, sure, Kai." Tyson said, swiftly plucking the book from Kai's hand. The older just glared at him, reaching for his novella. "What is this anyways?" Tyson paused to read the cover, "Heart of Darkness? Well, isn't that suiting." Tyson said flatly, looking at the cover art before Kai snatched the book back.

"You're an imbecile." Kai barked, scooting to the far corner of his couch and flipping through the pages until he found his spot.

"Hmph. Well, you're not very nice. Or talkative." Tyson replied, glancing back at the TV. When Kai opened his mouth to speak, however, Tyson just turned and stuck his tongue out at the older teen.

"Don't you usually go home by now?" Kai asked flatly, obviously not impressed by Tyson's antics.

"Do I?" Tyson asked, suddenly realizing he hadn't glanced a clock in hours. He grabbed his cell phone from his pocket and shrieked. "Kai! It's almost 10! Gramps is gonna kill me!" He sprang up from the couch as if it was on fire and began grabbing his things. He shoved his feet in his shoes and pulled up the backs before waving to Kai.

"See you tomorrow, buddy!" Tyson yelled as he ran out of Kai's apartment.

The older teen sat for a moment, staring at where Tyson had just been, leaving an indent in the couch cushion. His vision moved towards his coffee table, where a slight silver gleam caught his eye.

Kai leaned down and picked up Tyson's cell phone, and as he lifted it from the table it vibrated quietly in his hand. The teen ran his thumb over the screen, flipping the phone open.

"Tala?" He read the name from the incoming message, an eyebrow raised.

* * *

Tyson sped through the dojo doors, throwing his shoes off and running to his bedroom. He closed the door as quickly and quietly as he could, huffing and puffing from the run back.

He started looking through his things, looking for his phone to call Max and ask if there was any math homework due, however he couldn't find it. Anywhere.

Oops.

"Must'a left it at Kai's…" Tyson mumbled to himself.

"Hey dog, tryin' a pull a slick one on your ole' gramps, are ya?" Gramps said, having opened the door as his grandson pulled things out of his backpack.

"Oh… Heh, hey gramps! How ya doing?" Tyson asked, looking at the old man.

"Little dog, it ain't fly to leave me hangin'." The older man said, "Out with Max?" He questioned.

"Nah, my friend Kai. I think I left my phone at his apartment." Tyson said with a sigh.

"Well, H-M-U next time." Gramps said.

"H-M-U… Hold my unicorn?" Tyson asked with a cheesy grin.

"Hit me up, home fly." Gramps said, Tyson just nodded.

"Got it, Gramps. Thanks." Tyson replied with a sigh.

"You're still grounded for 3 days." Gramps informed his grandson who looked appalled.

"Gramps! 3 days!" Tyson shrieked.

"You got it, Slick." Gramps said before leaving the teen to himself.

"Aw, man…" Tyson grumbled, putting his things away and getting ready for bed.

* * *

Tyson went to school early the next day, so very glad it was finally Friday. He was intent on seeing his friends… but equally intent on seeing Kai.

"Hey Hil! How're you this fine morning?" Tyson asked the girl who was seated in the cafeteria, engrossed in the pages of her history textbook, highlighter ready.

"Oh, hey, Tyson." The girl greeted in a somewhat dazed voice.

"Where's Maxie?" Tyson asked, sliding into his seat and glancing around, letting his backpack fall onto the ground ungracefully.

"He'll be here any minute." Hilary told her friend. Tyson just nodded and pressed his lips together, looking around.

About 10 minutes passed and the school began to buzz with movement, include the incoming of a very bouncy blonde, headed Tyson's way.

"_Tyson_? Do you know what day it is?" Max yelled from across the cafeteria, jogging towards his friend.

"Max? Do _you_ know what day it is?" Tyson yelled back, leaping from his seat and bracing himself.

"Fri_YAY_!" The two shouted in unison, gaining a few awkward stray glances from their classmates.

They both collided into what Hilary could only describe as a "bro-pile", before untangling themselves and sitting like polite adults at the fake-wood table.

"Maxie, did you happen to see Kai this morning?" Tyson asked.

"Hmm? No, why? You looking for him? He usually has a knack for finding you first, ya know." Max replied, hugging his girlfriend and giving her a quick peck on the forehead.

"I left my phone at his place, just wondered if he was planning to give it back to me or not!" Tyson joked with a smile. He wasn't concerned. Him and Kai were now… Dare he think it?

_Good friends._

_Squee~!_

"Oh, bummer, I guess I won't text you in that case." Max said with a shrug.

"And miss a perfectly good opportunity to harass that asshole? I don't think so." Hilary said, grabbing Max's phone and opening it quickly.

"Hey, missy!" Max exclaimed, reaching for his device, only to have his hand slapped.

Tyson thought for a moment, before realizing this was a _tremendously_ horrible idea on Hilary's part.

"Hilary! He isn't going to read my texts anyways!" Tyson said, grabbing his best friends phone from her clutches.

"You don't know that, Tyson!" Hilary barked, glaring at the teen.

"Pfft, Kai has much better things to do than _that_." Tyson explained logically.

"Perhaps." Hilary grumbled, resigning herself to continuing her work.

* * *

The day passed by like molasses in January.

Minutes felt like hours, as the torture that is public education droned on in Tyson's world.

"Only ten more minutes." Tyson whispered to himself, willing the clock faster. He's been looking for Kai all day and had yet to find him. He counted the seconds as the clock ticked, counting down… Waiting…

_Riiing!_ The bell sounded to end class.

Tyson leapt from his chair and headed out of the classroom and into the fresh air, excited at the prospect of seeing Kai. He rounded the corner, expecting the maroon eyes to be glaring at him, while the older smoked a cigarette and nodded to the girls walking by…

This day, though, Kai was nowhere to be found.

This was quite disheartening. Not only did Tyson not have a phone to contact his crush with, he couldn't run over to Kai's apartment because he was grounded… And not only that, he couldn't call Gramps to tell him he really had to go check on Kai.

Dammit, world!

Dammit, _reality_!

Tyson huffed and paused for a second, before deciding it would be best to run, _literally run_, back to the dojo, ask Gramps if he could check on Kai and get his phone back, and then run, literally again, to Kai's apartment. It was a plan.

* * *

_Thump, thump, thump!_ Tyson knocked on Kai's door as quietly as he could contain himself. He was panting from the jog to Kai's apartment, and had to brush a few drops of sweat from his forehead. Worried about the older teen, his thumps only got louder.

Tyson looked at the unassuming door for a long moment, narrowing his eyes at the object. It was exceedingly frustrating that he couldn't text Tala and ask if he'd seen Kai, or Kai to see if he was alright.

Tyson instead reach for the doorknob and turned it, the door, in response, clicked open.

"That was too easy." Tyson mumbled to himself, shifting his glances from side to side, "I should get into espionage." He agreed to himself before pushing the door open slightly.

The teen peeked around the door as sneakily as he could, quickly slipping in and shutting the door with a barely audible 'click'!

Tip-toeing through the dark apartment, Tyson studied the surroundings. Things were as immaculate as always and seemingly untouched. Was Kai even here?

...Was he dead?

...WAS TYSON GOING TO FIND HIM _DEAD_?

The teen shrunk down at the thought, eyes wide and wary. He definitely did not want to find any dead people.

He continued his trek, risks and all, noticing that Kai's bedroom door was slightly ajar and a light came from it.

He walked towards the door, heart beginning to thump louder and louder as he approached, before he bravely glanced inside.

What he witnessed, however, was Kai's body.

It was very much alive though!

And damp and dripping with just a measly green towel wrapped around Kai's narrow hips. Tyson couldn't help himself studying Kai's pale back before letting out a large breath he'd been holding.

The older teen spun around at the noise, alerted to the younger presence.

"Oh hey, Kai!" Tyson said with a smile, waving awkwardly from the door he pushed open.

"What the fuck, Tyson?" Kai barked, taking a few deep breaths and shaking his head.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" Tyson asked, genuinely concerned.

"No, you fucking moron, you just startled me. Why are you here?" Kai replied, crossing his arms.

Tyson gulped loudly as his eyes, completely without permission from the mother ship, traveled downward over Kai's sculpted chest and abdominals. He felt a few sweat drops form on his forehead as his heart raced.

Kai was really just a Greek God. That's all.

Because, holy _shit_, he was gorgeous.

"Tyson!" Kai reminded the younger, not moving from his spot.

"Huh? Oh! You weren't at school today, so I wanted to make sure you were OK! And, I think I left my cell here, have you seen it?" Tyson replied, peeling his gaze from the milky white chest of his crush.

"Yeah, you left it on the coffee table and I haven't touched it." Kai replied. "Lemme throw on some clothes." The older replied. Kai turned around and let his green towel very quickly fall to the ground.

"Eep!" Tyson squeaked before hurrying out to the living room and giving Kai some privacy. The younger flopped down on Kai's couch, trying desperately to calm his hormones down.

Kai sauntered out of the back of the apartment and apparently didn't want to bother himself with a shirt. Black jeans clung to his protruding hips, and Tyson felt the need to wrap his lower half in a blanket.

"It's like seventy-five degrees in here and you're cold?" Kai asked, digging through the refrigerator for a drink.

"Yep." Tyson replied, refusing to look in Kai's direction. He instead busied himself watching the blank television screen.

"Freak." Kai muttered.

"Only in the sheets." Tyson teased, before realizing what he implied...And dying a little.

"I should ask you to back that up, since you keep running my girls off." Kai replied nonchalantly. Tyson just swallowed hard and felt his face burn with the images. Oh, Lordy, the images!

"That would be a bad idea, I think." Tyson replied quickly.

"It was a joke." Kai said, looking at his friend and raising an eyebrow.

"I knew that! Anyways, I'm super thrilled you're OK, and I'm super thrilled my phone is right here, so I better be off!" Tyson said, throwing his blanket off and scurrying towards the front door.

"Tyson, hold up."

"Yes, Kai?" Tyson squeaked, almost to the door.

"C'mere." Kai said from the kitchen.

"B-But… I gotta—"

"Did you not hear me?" Kai asked in a scolding tone.

"Okay…" Tyson said, walking into the kitchen nervously.

"Here." Kai pointed to the ground directly in front of him. Tyson narrowed his eyes.

"Am I a dog now?" Tyson mumbled, but obeyed. Once he'd stopped in front of the older teen, Kai reached out and ruffled his hair.

"Good boy." Kai said with a chuckle.

Tyson's heart burst to life again, pumping blood straight to his face… and other vital organs, of course.

The smell of Kai's aftershave overwhelmed the teen, causing Tyson to basically turn into goo.

Tyson-goo...

Each spot Kai's fingers touched tingled in a most pleasant way. Kai then pressed his palm to Tyson's forehead, surprising him.

"You're not warm, but you're definitely flushed. Are you ok?" Kai inquired, studying his friend closely.

"Yeah, of course! I ran here, so I'm just tired still. Better get to training!" Tyson said, readying himself to leave, although his legs wanted to stay.

"Tyson! I see you've found Kai." A new voice purred from behind the flustered teen. Tyson spun around to see none other than Tala leaning casually against the doorframe.

"Oh h-hey, Tala. Didn't expect to see ya." Tyson said to his friend before turning back to Kai, who was watching them both passively.

"We were gonna chat. You have to get going though?" Kai asked Tyson, crossing his arms and holding his elbows.

"Yeah I better get going, I'm grounded because I was here so late last night. Did I grab my phone?" Tyson asked, mostly to himself, and checked his pocket.

"Yep!" He said.

"You forgot it last time?" Tala asked, Tyson thought the question was a little odd, but didn't think much of it. Tala was an odd guy in general, after all.

"Yeah, but it's OK now." Tyson said with a smile.

"Indeed. Losing such a personal item would be unfortunate. We keep such sensitive information on these, hmm?" Tala said, pulling out his own phone and clicking around, "Did you get my text?" Tala asked.

"No, I didn't have any…" Tyson replied, rechecking that he didn't have any new messages.

"Hm. That's odd. I'll resend it." Tala said, doing so. Tysons phone buzzed immediately after.

"Weird." Tala said with a grin. Tyson was a little put off by the conversation, but decided he should probably leave before Gramps got suspicious.

And with a wave of goodbye, Tyson was off towards home. Once he left Kai's apartment and began his walk home he flipped his phone open. Tala's new message was waiting patiently, and Tyson opened it. Reading across the words quickly, he inhaled sharply.

"Jeez, it's lucky this didn't go through..." Tyson said, studying the letters, "That'd be way too close a call..." Tyson mumbled, flipping the phone shut and blushing to himself.


End file.
